


Of Blood and Beasts

by valorikei



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Drugs, Family Drama, M/M, Minor Character Death, Sex between Minors, Supernatural Elements, Teen Romance, Teenage Drama, Underage Sex, Vampire Milking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-10
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-01-15 05:13:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 44,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1292692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valorikei/pseuds/valorikei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ivan was just trying to make it through highschool, doing things all kids his age did. Staying out of trouble, giving his first bite, graduating... but things all go to hell when he meets a certain succubus. Supernatural AU, vampire!Ivan and Succubus/Sex Demon!Alfred with a bunch of craziness and dark things. RusAme main pair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This has originally been posted on FanFiction!  
> And to clarify: Yes, I know Succubus is used for female sex demons. There is a REASON I HAVE ALFRED AS A SUCCUBUS. It DOES GET EXPLAINED later on. So sorry for any confusion!

"Open."

Acting on autopilot in the stifled atmosphere rank with disinfectant and tension, Ivan slid his mouth open wide, and, predicting the nurse's next command, took the liberty of enlarging his fangs, his pale lips stretching back into a snarl to accommodate the addition. The nurse hummed in silent approval, tipping his head back to better examine his fangs with the lights overhead before _tsking_ with annoyance. Ivan felt his cheeks heat as his father's stare narrowed into a dark and firm glare. "Ivan… I feel I should almost reprimand you on being such a good rule follower."

"Excuse me?" the teenaged vampire asked, relaxing his jaw as the lady nurse moved away with a tut, scratching down a messy note onto her clipboard as she went to gather some materials for the next phase of the checkup.

"Your virginal coating is still completely intact. I take it you use blood supplements?" the nurse continued, to which his father nodded stiffly, Ivan fidgeting awkwardly on the reclining hospital chair. The woman lifted up a blunted tool, checking it's cleanness before taking a little baggie and a wipe as she moved back over to Ivan. "I know the law states that all vampires must wait until they are twenty before finding a blood bank, but I'll have to write you an exception."

Ivan winced uncomfortably and tried not to move so much as the nurse carefully chipped away at his left fang, the shavings falling into the bag until she had a decent enough sample. "Your virginal coat looks highly acidic… You most likely have some kind of high level venom. But, given your family history," she nodded to Ivan's father curtly, meeting no response from the older vampire. "That is not very surprising."

"Why does he need an exemption," the man grunted through grit teeth, his fangs glinting from thinly frowning lips. The nurse shuddered, zipping up the bagged sample as she moved away again and let Ivan dab at his fang with the wipe. "The law says he has five more years left before he gets a blood bank."

"Yes, but his fangs will begin to rot if the virginal coat is not removed," the nurse explained with a sigh, shaking her head as she moved away to pick up a needle. "We normally don't have to worry about this sort of thing since most vampires your age have already given their first bite."

"It's against the law," Ivan murmured darkly, jolting when his sideways glance met his father's glare. He remained quiet though, letting the nurse tip his head back again.

"Regardless. Laws can be broken if it's for your health. Should you enter a bloodlust, you'd be a danger to society, and the laws against that overrule the laws about blood banks. I'll give your father a list of clinics for you to choose from, there are plenty of misfi- I mean, people, who will gladly become a bank for a high level like you," she smiled sweetly, but Ivan could tell from the sour pucker in her cheeks that she did not mean her words kindly. Regardless, he simply watched her obediently as his father regarded them both cooly. "Now tip your head back, I need to get at your venoglands."

Ivan's world seared with pain as the woman jabbed his neck with her needle, his toxic venom suctioned out his body in the most uncomfortable way possible directly from his full glands. His vision blackened out, the last thing he remembered being his father staring with an icy cold look of disapproval and disappointment in his eyes.


	2. Introduction

Looking up at his school with dead eyes and his backpack hanging off of one shoulder, Ivan wondered what had possessed him enough to get out of his coffin that morning. He lifted his scarf over his nose and took a cleansing breath through the worn yarn, adjusting his pack as he started to walk through the bustling and noisy morning crowds. Creatures of all kinds, fairies and angels and demons and wolves and all manner of supernatural offspring numbly moved out of his way, watching with curious eyes in his wake as the groups split off to let him through.

Ever since The Plagues, vampires and other parasitic species had become nearly extinct, and thus the World Government had cracked down hard with numerous laws written to help 'protect' and 'promote the procreation' of these species to try balancing the populations again. While the laws were meant to help, instead they had only stifled the Parasitics, ostracizing them from the other classes.

The rules were nearly impossible to remember now, with how many there were. Restrictions on biting ages, biting classes, blood supplements... it made Ivan wish he had been alive twenty years earlier.

"Hey, needle!" someone sneered at him, and luckily vampires had naturally heightened senses or else Ivan would have gotten a faceful of yoghurt or whatever was thrown at him. He glared dangerously, a creepy smile on his face that made the creatures flinch back nervously. He glowered at them for a moment, deciding to avoid a confrontation with the other teenagers and avoid any unnecessary anger that could help bring on a bloodlust rage. They were all foolish little bugs after all. One bite from him and he just knew he could kill half of the school.

Well, he did not know that for sure, but he knew that his venom was of the higher levels, one that was nearly completely pure. Venom that could work through the system in fewer minutes than the fastest naga bite. He knew his venom was strong, but there was no way of knowing just what exactly his venom could do to a creature until he had given his first bite. Would it be a poison? Or maybe he had paralysis venom, where the body of his victims would shut down and he could torture them as he pleased… Ivan shivered at the possibilities, closing his eyes to fantasize about all of the ways he could terrorize the students who mocked him.

"Ah," he grunted in surprise when someone ran into his side, knocking him away as the teen stumbled and nearly tripped from a few feet away. Ivan growled at possibly having been pick-pocketed, his breath hitched as their eyes met and the two shared an intimate, secret moment of just the two of them.

Beautiful cherry red lips puckered in a small pout as cerulean baby blues blinked from behind glasses perched on a slightly upturned and freckle-splattered nose, the boy taking a moment to collect himself before panicking. "O-oh gosh, hey, sorry big guy, didn't see you there," he excused himself awkwardly, his brash voice somewhat melodic and enticing in a strange way Ivan had never felt before. The underclassman shuffled awkwardly around him, tugging his baggy red sweatshirt down lower over his supple hips before running off. Ivan almost didn't notice the group of furious girls each with a set of wings or a tail or both chase past him, their makeup smeared and hair messy as they screamed for the capture and bloody murder of the boy.

_Pretty_ , Ivan thought to himself as he watched the teen flee, eyes focused on his ass as the sweatshirt didn't quite cover him all the way to his pants. Someone else jabbed him in the side, and he winced away, glaring at whoever it was.

_Werewolf._

"If I were you pal," the cocky wolf sneered, grinning his pointy toothed smile as he flipped alabaster hair out of his red eyes. "Which I'm not, thank God for that since you're so un-awesome, I'd stay away from the succubi bitches. They're a real pain in the ass when they want more than just an extra fuck."

Ivan simply raised an eyebrow, shouldering past the albino wolf with no comment. The creature yelped, hurriedly chasing after him. "His name is Alfred you know!" he shouted, and Ivan paused if only to glance back at the grinning teenager. "He's the worst succubus in his class, can't do jack worth shit. He doesn't even wear makeup or enhancers, and he thinks he'll get himself laid!"

Choosing to ignore the werewolf, Ivan just shrugged him off again, pointedly forgetting the cruel jabs to the pretty succubus. But, the other supernatural being persisted, hounding after Ivan like a true predator would as he demanded the vampire's attention. "So hey, yer name's Ivan right?" he asked when the junior couldn't stand to listen to his pestering inquiries anymore.

"Da, but it is pronounced ee-vahn," Ivan corrected with a scowl, not in the mood to even pretend to be happy in front of the snickering wolf. He turned away again, nearly dropping his act when the foolish animal grabbed his arm to stop him again.

"Yeah, whatever eye-van," he grinned, canines glinting from his snarling smirk when Ivan just glared back at him and shook out of his grasp once again. "Anyway, I have a question for you."

"I do not care, leave me," Ivan hissed, trying to walk away from the wolf. He honestly did not even bother with trying to make friends, knowing that there was only one part of him that the creatures would truly be interested in.

"Look, all I'm going to say is that I've been watching you for a while, and I know for sure your family's got some of the best venom around," the albino continued, Ivan rolling his eyes when his prediction was realized. The wolf did not seem to notice, continuing to babble away at Ivan. "So what do you say, wanna make some Toxin and live it up a little?"

"And become the laughing stock of the school and have my father disown me?" Ivan scoffed, shoving the other upperclassman away as he turned once more. "Nyet. Take your offer somewhere else, I am not interested."

Completely ignoring the wolf's pleading howls of protest and demands for his attention and time, Ivan finally managed to get away, the bells echoing through the halls urging him to hurry up and go to class.

* * *

 

He did not once stop thinking about the pretty succubus who had run into him this morning.  _Did he enchant me?_  Ivan could not help but wonder as he laid a sweaty palm down over his heart, hearing it flutter as it tried to push his blood through his veins. To be honest, Ivan knew he needed to drink fresh blood, and soon. Not only to hold back a bloodlust rage, but also for his own health.

The true reason most vampires need to have blood banks is not actually just to consume the bank's blood, but to take in other blood to compensate for their own insufficient blood. The higher level venom a vampire produces, the worse it is for their body and the worse it makes their own blood. For other species, vampire venom acts as drugs would, producing aphrodisiac, hallucinogenic, increased hormone levels, or possibly poisonous side effects, and can be highly addictive to the recipient. But for the vampires, it acts as a blood thinner, making it harder for most vampires without banks to survive, as they have no way to take in new blood to replace their worn out blood, and no way to get rid of the venom slowly killing them.

He wondered if Alfred would consider being his bank. But, even as he stared forlornly up at the clouds from where he sat on the isolated hilltop, he knew better than to have such fantasies. Besides, he hardly even knew the succubus.

"Alfred," he murmured again, and with how sweetly the sounds curled off of his lips made him sure that the love demon truly had enchanted him, and that he was lost to him forever.

"Yeah?" a soft, somewhat brassy voice full of shy confidence murmured from the tree above him, and Ivan yelped in surprise, scrambling away when he was caught of guard.

Alfred lay partially draped over a tree branch, a shy little smile on his perfect and softly rounded face. Ivan stared into those mesmerizing eyes until Alfred blushed and couldn't hold his gaze any longer, dropping his chin down to the branch.

"Don't you know it's impolite to stare at a succubus?" that soft and beautiful voice asked as Ivan simply stared dumbstruck up at him as Alfred's lithe form contorted and then swung down from the tree, his body landing heavily but firmly on the ground. "And besides, you wouldn't want to catch anything right?"

Ivan blinked and then jerked back, looking away quickly at the suggestion of being put under a trance by the demon. Alfred awkwardly glanced in the opposite direction, hugging his arm nervously as he tried to hide himself by pulling his sweatshirt down again.

"Ah, da," was Ivan's oh-so-intelligent response as he deftly walked around Alfred to pick up his abandoned backpack. He wasn't looking, but he could feel Alfred's eyes on him whenever the succubus glanced over. He stooped for his bag, suddenly unreasonably self consciously now that he knew he had been watched. "Anyway… did you need something?"

"Well uhm… I wanted to say I was sorry for hitting you earlier," the teen admitted, scratching his cheek nervously as he glanced at Ivan, those doey blue eyes big and curious as he observed the mysterious vampire no one knew anything about. Ivan grunted in acceptance of the apology, but Alfred didn't move from his spot, just waiting until Ivan turned around again. "I slipped some lip balm into your pocket… Can I get it back?"

Sure enough, Ivan easily felt the small container when he groped inside of his back pocket, staring at it in disbelief at having not realized it had been there earlier. Alfred held his hand out expectantly, a coy little smile on his pretty pink lips as Ivan wordlessly handed the makeup capsule back. "It's a lust potion, actually. You wear it and then whenever you kiss someone, you make them want to bang you," Alfred blushed hotly, slipping the tube into his kangaroo pouch pocket as Ivan's eyes widened. The underclassman chuckled nervously, looking away with a tinted blush. " _Obviously_  that's the most important thing they could think of teaching us, right? Not even how to do complex math, just seduction and fucking techniques."

"It does not sound enjoyable."

"It really isn't," Alfred mumbled, and the look his strong features took on when he clutched at one elbow and stared at the ground made Ivan's heart swoon with sympathy, even if he didn't let his face show it. The succubus glanced up over the rim of his glasses at him after a moment, and then smiled. "So, can I talk to you again, Ivy?"

Ivan didn't even remember replying until Alfred had hugged him tightly and ran off, waving eagerly at him as he cheerily left the dumbfounded vampire to his own shock and rapidly beating heart.

* * *

 

"I'm home," Ivan announced to the empty and stale air of his home, slipping his shoes off at the door before padding into the depths of the large family estate. The Braginski clan was of the richest in the whole nation, notorious for Winter Braginski's service in developing The Cure. Without his insights into the anatomy of the Parasitic classes and their behavior, the Plagues may have wiped out not only the Parasites but perhaps other populations of supernatural beings as well if the disease had been given the chance to mutate and evolve.

After ridding the vast majority of the infected from the virus and therefore nearly wiping the disease out, Winter Braginski went on into a life of politics, hammering out new laws as the loudest voice in the nation's government without ever officially being a part of the government. Everyone knew of his name and of his family, but once things had settled down from the chaos after the Plagues, the Braginski clan more or less faded from the world stage while remaining a local celebrity in Ivan's town.

Ivan sighed, taking one look at the crammed mailbox before deciding to ignore it, contemplating the comfort a good nap in his coffin would bring to his troubled state of mind. It truly was troublesome, after all. His father would be home from the police station soon, no doubt with a long lecture fully planned out to give to his ungrateful wasted space of a son. The teenage vampire scowled darkly just thinking of his father, having always hated the way the power had consumed and corrupted his never truly put-together mind.

As he was setting down his backpack, the ashen haired teen scowled and hurriedly tried to answer his ringing phone, struggling to get it past the confines of the black bag before the call went to voice mail.

"Da?" he grunted, tucking the device between his shoulder and ear so he could continue disrobing and putting his school items away. A growl answered him from the other end, and Ivan's expression soured with recognition.

"I have chosen a clinic, you will be going there on Friday," Winter declared flatly, muttering something away from the receiver as Ivan huffed, not wanting to deal with him at all.

"Father, I am not going to a clinic," Ivan hissed defiantly into the cell, kneeling on the floor to pull out his homework papers. There were scuffling noises on the other line, and then the sound of a car door slamming followed by silence.

"Da, you are," Winter snapped aggressively, and Ivan could just picture his furious expression, eyebrows drawn taut and nose flared in rage with eyes as cold as his name suggests. The teen breathed with exasperation, not having the patience to argue with his one and only parent.

"Nyet. I don't want to."

"Don't make me bite you, boy," Winter snarled dangerously, the threat making Ivan's eyes widen in just slight surprise. While venom had various effects on other species, a vampire biting another vampire always proved lethal, with only two documented cases of victims who survived. Coming from his father… Ivan knew he was being serious, but he couldn't help himself.

"I don't want to," he repeated, and Winter immediately started to growl cruel insults under his breath as the sound of screeching tires on asphalt worked their way into the phone call, giving Ivan enough time to continue speaking. "I can still drink the supplements, they are fine."

"Shut up, Ivan," Winter growled, and the teen clamped his complaint down, knowing that tone his father always used for very specific cases of rage. "You are making me look like a damned fool and I swear if you keep this up you will not go unpunished. Do you think you are smart, boy? You're nothing but a pathetic maggot and you will do as I say or suffer the consequences. Have dinner ready for when I return, and we will continue  _discussing_  this  _later_."

The phone beeped the dead tone for about a minute before Ivan felt well enough to hang up his end of the call, letting the device clatter to the floor. He sat on his rug for a few minutes, just taking in everything his father had told him before balling up, wringing his hands furiously to try and relieve his frustrations.

If only he could scream. Cry.  _Kill._

All of this misery would leave him, and he wouldn't have to worry about anything any longer.

As he slowly fit himself into his tight and comfortably dark coffin, he thought back to the succubus he had fantasized about, wondering just how soft that neck was and how sweet Alfred's blood would taste in his mouth...

 


	3. Warming Up

Ivan jolted when he heard the doorbell echo throughout the house, shocked that anyone had even made it to the front door without having to go through the main gate that surrounded the large, Victorian-style mansion. He froze in place for a moment and the bell rang again, drawn out as if someone impatiently held the button down. After a long pause the teenaged vampire rose from his seat, dragging his socked feet as he sulked to the door, admittedly curious about who could possibly have business with the main house where he and his father lived.

When he looked through the peephole, all that met his eyes was a curled cowlick of golden wheat hair, and beautifully bright blue eyes staring through clear lenses. Ivan panicked, opening the door in a flurry.

"Hey Ivy-" the succubus could hardly even get the nickname out before Ivan yanked him into the mansion, slamming the door shut and rushing over to the window, peering through the curtains at the gates. Alfred stared at him in surprise, clutching nervously at his elbow as it tingled from where Ivan had grabbed him so forcefully. "Uh, everything okay-?"

"You should not be here," Ivan hissed through gritted teeth, whipping the thick material over the windows to shroud the room in darkness. He went around the entire front side of the lower floor, shutting windows and rolling down blinds before returning to the foyer, Alfred cowering awkwardly with a nervous blush tinting his soft cheeks.

"Oh, I didn't mean-"

"Who did you come with?" Ivan growled, gripping Alfred's shoulders and giving him enough of a shake to make those big blue eyes get wider and those pretty pink lips to fall open in shock. He glared at the succubus, feeling betrayed by someone he did not even know.

"Stop," Alfred ordered after Ivan relentlessly shook him a few times, eyes narrowing angrily as he grabbed Ivan's hands and squeezed them, his grip nearly as strong as Ivan's as he stared him down. "You're hurting me, let go. I came alone, I wanted to see you."

Ivan stared at Alfred for a tense, long moment, the two teenagers just glaring at each other and holding the other still until Ivan finally let go with a snarl, turning around quickly. "Da?" he ground out, sending a sharp and pointed look in Alfred's direction as the blond huffily righted his clothing.

"Yeah," the succubus stated back defiantly, crossing his arms and refusing to say more or do more until Ivan gave in to his curiosity and rapid pulse, facing the prideful sex demon head on. He straightened, standing at least a head taller than Alfred could manage as they both puffed out their chests to try intimidating the other.

After a solid minute of just staring they both crumbled at about the same time, Ivan weakly clutching at his chest as it seemed a whole army was trying to break free from within, Alfred ducking his gaze to the floor as he blushed and swayed his hips enticingly to one side. "I-I should apologize."

"Nyet, I was the one that grabbed you," Ivan grumbled sulkily, feeling ridiculous for acting in such a manner in front of the pretty succubus. Alfred smiled and looked up, slowly shuffling closer into Ivan's personal space with a somewhat nervous but grinning smile on his face that Ivan couldn't help but continue staring at him.

"Nah, I should have told you I wanted to come over," Alfred admitted with a blush, scratching his cheek before hurriedly gripping his elbow again, appearing rather self-conscious as he glanced up at Ivan once more, a moment of silence falling over the two awkward teenagers.

"Speaking of," Ivan prompted, the question left unspoken as a breathy chuckle escaped Alfred's lips, his shoulders hunching and eyes darting away from Ivan's again. It took a moment of gentle lip-gnawing and fidgeting before the pretty demon was able to make a reply.

"I slipped my number into your back pocket," he smiled, and then stepped much too close for Ivan's comfort, his slender arms winding around Ivan's waist as his hands dipped into his pockets. Ivan jolted with wide eyes as his butt was practically groped, Alfred pulling away from their hug with a slip of paper between two fingers. He giggled and pressed the sheet to his smirk, eyeing Alfred through hooded and secretive baby blues. "You see… I have a proposition for our mutual benefit."

Ivan could only stare, heart beating faster than should have been healthy for his weak organ, mesmerized by the curve of Alfred's lips and the flick of his nose and even that ridiculous lock of hair he obviously struggled with keeping flat. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the ones behind those clear lenses, and for a moment Ivan wondered if he'd have to move those glasses away to properly kiss the pretty blond.

"Don't stare too long," Alfred reminded, looking away as Ivan blinked in surprise and sputtered, a shameful blush darkening his pale cheeks when Alfred chuckled at his guilt. "Anywho… There's something I'd like you to do."

Ivan tried not to swallow so audibly as he dropped his eyes to Alfred's collarbone instead of his face, hoping that he would not get so easily put under the influence of the succubus' power if he looked somewhere else. It didn't help when his throat went dry at the sight of Alfred's Adam's apple bobbing in his perfectly sculpted neck… "A-ah, da?"

"Yeah," Alfred murmured, slowly prowling forward into Ivan's personal space, advancing until Ivan barely was able to restrain himself from taking an intimidated step backwards. Alfred didn't seem to notice, his clear blue eyes just gripping Ivan's soul in their gaze as the vampire simply could not look away or protest at all. "You see… I want you-"

Ivan's breath seized in his chest as Alfred poked a finger to the center of his sternum, his shirt material doing little to subdue the heat from the subtle movement, the succubus gazing at him with those mysterious eyes that had Ivan entranced and under their mercy. He managed to swallow, the silence dragging as Alfred left him suspended in suspense, every fiber of his being on edge and aroused and eagerly waiting for-

"-to teach me."

The vampire blinked in mild surprise, and he knew he should blame the succubus for having cast this throbbing spell of desire over him, blame the succubus for making his knees weak and chest ache and… "What… do you want to learn?" he choked out after a moment, lifting his fidgety eyes to make broken contact with Alfred's as the blond smiled and removed his finger, Ivan's chest deflating with the lack of contact.

"Science," the succubus replied with the largest smile possible, and Ivan couldn't help but gape, all of his sexy fantasies vanishing in a whiff of impossibility. "And math! Astronomy too, if you know any. About the planets, the stars! Philosophers! Anything!"

The vampire shut his mouth slowly as Alfred started to babble, listing off all the subjects he could think of, such excitement in his eyes that Ivan felt something tense in his belly, a strange and tight feeling in his chest as he simply watched the pretty succubus rave with lust… for  _learning._

"You'll do it, right?" Alfred asked after a pause in his rambling, taking on a nervous look when he remembered that Ivan had no reason to accept his request. The vampire stared dumbly at him, still much too startled to have even thought about what he was going to do.

"What will I get out of it?" was his clever response, eyes narrowing as he crossed his arms and tried to look tough and in complete control of the situation, even knowing that in his heart of hearts if Alfred had asked one more time he would crumple and cave in with agreement. The succubus frowned (a completely unacceptable expression for a creature of his beauty) and held his chin with a stroking hand of contemplation.

"Well… I'm…" Alfred started, and then cut off, blushing and gesturing vaguely to the entirety of his body, once more unable to look at the taller vampire. "And you're uh… you, so… I'm sure we could figure it out?"

"Y-you mean…?" Ivan's voice tapered off in much the same way Alfred's had, the teen blushing and squirming as an awkward atmosphere suffocated their thoughts. The vampire struggled for a moment with his inner turmoil and confused desires, eventually settling on a solution. "I won't take payment… as long as you do not come back to my home."

"Really?" Alfred gasped, his entire body lighting up like a lightning bolt as Ivan once again awed at the expressive capabilities of Alfred's perfectly shaped lips and freckled cheeks, complimented by his eyes. He reached out and squeezed Ivan into a hug, nuzzling his masterpiece of a body into Ivan's awkwardly too tall and too skinny form. "Thank you so much, Ivy! I knew you would help me! I owe you so much, thanks big guy!"

Ivan blushed and nodded meekly, unable to look Alfred in the eye again as the succubus started rambling again, his voice full of that soothing confidence that had Ivan tripping over his own feet and stumbling after him as Alfred more or less led himself back to the front door.

"Oh hey, why don't I just give this to you now, so maybe you'll know you have it," Alfred chuckled, offering up the little slip of paper with hastily scrawled numbers on it, the one Alfred had slipped into Ivan's pants earlier. "You should really watch your pockets more you know. It was so easy to stuff things inside that it'd probably be easier to slip something like a wallet out."

"Ah, da…" was Ivan's very intelligent response, Alfred chuckling and batting his long eyelashes at him as he opened up the door. The ashen haired vampire only could watch as the succubus skipped away down the path to his house, waving excitedly back at him before climbing over the gate in a rather impressive show of agility. Ivan stared at the blank expanse for a moment before slowly shutting the door, thumping his back against it dully. He sank to the floor, curling up around the little piece of paper that smelled so amazingly of Alfred.


	4. Curse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some minor violence in this Chapter

Walking through the school halls with a look dead enough to make a cemetary look lively, Ivan pushed his way through the thronging masses of supernatural offspring, accidentally stepping on a naga's tail and shoving an indignant fairy aside as he tried to get through. It was Friday, and Fridays were always the worst.

Everyone made it a point to be even more loud and boisterous, eagerly shouting for their friends and making plans across the hall and running to get to all of the places they wanted to go. Everyone had a place to go, a thing to do, and a person to do all those things with.

It just served to remind Ivan of how tragically alone he truly was, how no one ever wanted to befriend a vamp just to hang out like all of the normal teenagers did. Was it too much to ask? A single friend for the sole benefit of having a friend to pass the days away with? Was it such a horrible thing he simply did not deserve…?

He shivered as his weak heart forced a sweet rush of blood to his cheeks, the color warming his face as he gently brought the shred of paper Alfred had given him. He rubbed the smooth surface slowly, the feeling exciting and intoxicating and calming all at once. He smoothed the paper gently, glad Alfred had scrawled the number in pen or else he would have smudged the code to happiness away…

Ivan shook his head, shuddering and banishing such treacherous thoughts from his mind, refusing in indulge in his newfound addiction. That fiendish beauty had hypnotized him, entranced him, made him nothing but a foolish toy! A shudder crawled up his spine as he shook his head again, crumpling the sheet of paper and hurriedly stuffing it into his pocket.

Oh, how he had tried so desperately to throw the tempting slip away! He had let it float innocently into the trash can in his home, but when he tried to walk away, he found himself drawn back to the bin and implored to remove the sole occupant. His body had moved on impulse, taking the paper back and cradling it like a cherished artifact in need of protection.

There was no way this was a spell.

This had to be a curse.

* * *

 

"Hey. Hey! I'm talking to you!" the obnoxious shouting persisted even as Ivan shouldered his way out into the bright sunlight, having to cover his eyes from the equally obnoxious light until his sensitive eyes recovered from the blinding flash.

And I am not speaking back, Ivan frowned as he tried to hustle away, that disgusting wolf pursuing him relentlessly. Eventually he grew tired of the demands for attention, whirling on his heel to confront the wolf.

What he did not expect was getting shoved roughly back against the school building. He grunted, shrugging and rolling his shoulder to offset the jolt of pain rippling from the area. "I'm talking to you, pal," that stupid wolf snarled, cutting off Ivan's growl before it could even leave his throat.

"And I really wish you weren't," Ivan hissed, shoving Gilbert back a few steps as he tried to carry on with his life. But again, Gilbert refused to leave him to his lonesome peace.

"Yeah well too bad," Gilbert prowled back up into Ivan's personal space, and even when their chest nearly touched, Ivan refused to be intimidated back a step. The wolf paused and then grabbed Ivan's scarf, yanking down on it. "Because I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse."

Ivan almost wanted to laugh at the sheer stupidity of the fool. "Really?" he asked, rolling his eyes at the werewolf's reference. "What makes you so sure I will even consider any of your offers?"

"Because," Gilbert grinned, shoving Ivan against the wall again before rustling through his bag, pulling out an envelope. One of Ivan's slightly bushy eyebrows rose, a frown stretching his pale lips downwards. His jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw what was inside.

"You know, you should keep your ron-day vuuse a little more secret, bitch," the wolf sneered, slowly showing picture after picture of Alfred waiting on his doorstep, of him pulling Alfred into his house. "Don't want daddy seeing these, do you?"

"He-" Ivan breathed, eyes closing to block out this horrible nightmare. He opened them again, but no, the evidence still waving right under his nose. His feet stumbled backward before he could stop them, his hands coming up to snatch those vile images away, to shred and remembrance of Alfred ever smiling at him, seeing him, teasing him, touching him, everything. How dare that witch deceive him like this?! "He said he came alone…"

"Yeah, well," Gilbert blinked, as if not expecting Ivan to have said something like that. He yanked the criminalizing photographs away from Ivan's dumbly groping hands in the nick of time, smirking at the vampire. "Maybe you should think before you invite a fucking slut into your house."

A breathy pant exhaled from Ivan's lungs, his large frame shuddering as he hunched forward, a bizarre emotion filling his chest to it's breaking point, forced up his throat until he had to choke his fangs back to not let them appear. What was this rage? This blinding, black rage…? Why did an insult to that demon upset him so much? A shaking hand slowly came up to his mouth, the other clutching at his belly as he fought against this… this…

Bloodlust.

"Give them to me," he snarled, each word carefully and deliberately placed to minimize the air he wasted on speech. Gilbert's expression quirked as Ivan looked increasingly short of breath, his scarlet eyes regarding Ivan's shivering body coldly.

"As if," he huffed, hiding them away in his pocket as Ivan's knees bent weakly. He had half a mind to ask the nightcreature if he was alright, but he honestly didn't care too much about Ivan so he decided against it. "The only way these photos won't make it to the newspapers is if-"

"GIVE THEM TO ME!" Ivan practically screamed, his voice hoarse and dry and scratched as he tackled Gilbert, the wolf howling in surprise as the two hit the asphalt. They rolled and bumped a few feet as Ivan grabbed for Gilbert's throat, the wolf scratching for his eyes as they tussled.

"Get off!" Gilbert shouted, kicking and wriggling desperately as Ivan eventually pinned him down, the larger teenager using his size to his advantage. For a moment, Gilbert could only stare in horror as Ivan panted roughly over him, eyes feral and shoulders hunched threateningly. But Ivan refused to move, save to grip Gilbert's throat between bony pale hands and squeeze.

As Gilbert choked for air, Ivan marveled at how easily he summoned Gilbert's pulse to rise, the blood rushing so quickly just beyond his fingertips. His fangs slid out of his mouth before he could stop them, his body moving against his clouded judgment instinctually for that pulsating vein…

"NO!" Gilbert shrieked even as he strained fro air, scrambling weakly around himself with his arms as he thrashed underneath Ivan's heavy body. His hand connected with something, and right as Ivan bent to rip his throat open, he smashed the object over Ivan's head repeatedly until the vampire gave way.

Ivan's body sagged with a guttural noise, falling limply next to Gilbert as the wolf immediately rolled away, coughing painfully as he gulped in air. "What the fucking fuck…" he breathed in wonder, looking at the relatively small rock he had used to beat and knock the aggressive night creature out with. A little blood dribbled down from Ivan's temple as his fangs retreated back into his mouth, the vampire forcibly rolled onto his back when Gilbert wiggled completely out from under him.

Making a note to brag to Ludwig about the easy capture later, Gilbert stooped over Ivan and tried picking the unconscious vampire up, slinging Ivan's arm over his shoulder to drag him around more easily.

* * *

 

"Khhh," Ivan seethed out a strained breath, head throbbing in agony as he managed to open his eyes after what felt like years. His mind awash with pain and drowsiness, he couldn't even bring himself to try moving, save for curling his fingers to make sure they were still attached. He tried wetting his lips, finding them chapped and salty to taste.

Groaning weakly, he tried to rotate his sore neck, feeling choked and short of breath until…

"What-" he gasped, eyes bulging in horror when he struggled, finding something solid and tight around his neck, binding him to… "What the hell?!"

Ivan struggled, grabbing at what felt almost like a bicycle lock around his neck, pulling at it uselessly and only making his situation worse for himself. When yanking on the metal only choked him more he gave up, scrambling to attempt standing instead of sitting in hopes that the pole was low enough for him to slip out of.

Of course, the pole seemed to reach all the way to the ceiling.

"Well, look at that, bitch," an obnoxious voice spoke from behind him, and Ivan struggled to try shifting around to face that irritating animal. Gilbert laughed as he approached, smacking Ivan's cheek before the vampire could stop him. He redrew his hand quickly when Ivan snarled, just snickering at his captive. "Ya know, to be honest I didn't think that TV trick would work. But look! You're stuck now, bitch!"

"You will release me," Ivan warned, eyes dangerous with such a piercing glare that Ivan could hear Gilbert nervously gulp down his own saliva. But after a moment of watching the immobilized vampire, Gilbert simply howled with laughter, hunching over as he faced the source of his amusement.

"Nah, I got stuff I need ya for," he grinned, picking up an empty mason jar from a little table he had set up nearby, the top covered by an old rag with a rubber band keeping it in place. Ivan scowled, a shudder pinching in his shoulders before trembling down his spine, his weak heart pumping fresh blood through his body as his adrenaline rose. He tried backing up, the lock loosening only slightly around his neck as the pole dug uncomfortably into his back. "Open wide, bitch!"

"Nyet!" Ivan shouted, turning his head aside even as his sensitive skin caught against the lock. He pushed against Gilbert, a leg coming up to defend himself as best as he could. The wolf growled dangerously, obviously displeased that Ivan hadn't complied.

"Aw come on, I just need ya to gimme a little bite, right here," Gilbert sniggered, waving the clothed jar towards Ivan with the most devious grin. Ivan scowled, willing his fangs remain safely sheathed within their sockets. "It'll only take a sec, come on… I may even let you go afterwards."

"Nyet," Ivan hissed, and then stubbornly shut up, glowering at the annoying and perhaps just a little bit dangerous werewolf. Gilbert sighed, shaking his head with a mocking expression of false sadness smeared over his face as he slowly circled around Ivan.

"I really didn't want to do this, but you left me no choice, bitch," he cackled, and it took a moment too long for Ivan to realize Gilbert's intentions before the wolf gripped the flat side of the bicycle lock and jerked it back, thoroughly choking Ivan.

As the vampire sputtered and scrabbled for relief, Gilbert only laughed and pulled harder, waiting for Ivan's natural protective instincts to kick in. What limited air Ivan managed to swallow came out in choking gurgles as his knees buckled and his body screamed for another too-small breath.

Despite everything Ivan tried to do, he could feel his fangs poking out of their little slits, slowly exposing themselves even when Ivan's lingering fight tried to keep them safe inside. Gilbert seized his chance, jamming the lousy contraption roughly onto Ivan's fangs and partway into his mouth.

The vampire could feel something at the back of his fangs rupture, instantly identifying it as the fragile, tiny veins responsible for delivering venom into prey. Gilbert released the lock, Ivan's nose instantly flaring as he inhaled as much as he could, the jar forced in his obstructing the task. As the vampire sagged and was forced to leak his precious toxins into the jar, the cloth continued to rub against his fang, mostly destroying the virginal coating that covered his inexperienced fangs. He could feel his blood seeping onto the cloth, his vein torn and bleeding profusely as Gilbert refused to take the jar away, waiting until perhaps the whole bottom of the three inch diameter jar was covered in a glistening layer of venom.

"Thanks, bitch," the wolf sneered, ripping the jar away and perhaps on purpose making it clack and scrape against Ivan's bottom teeth when he removed it. Left unsupported and weakened, Ivan slid heavily against the pole, pooling at the bottom in a crumpled and distorted bile of bones and tissue. Gilbert laughed, kicking Ivan with his boot just for the fun of it as the vampire's venom-laced blood dribbled down his chin to splatter onto his shirt. "I'll run a few tests with this, and be back for more… If you need to go to the little monster's room, tough shit bitch, you deserved this."

Ivan couldn't even smudge away the spit Gilbert spat into his hair, defeated and vulnerable when the wolf left up a flight of stairs back to the rest of the world.

This most definitely was a curse.


	5. Bile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some icky things referenced here, nothing too explicit

Searing pain.

Noxious fumes.

A smell akin to death and famine.

The hours sludged by in Ivan's mind, the vampire unable to keep track of them as one agonized moment blurred into the next. The cold floor chilled his weakened body as the darkness played with his eyes, fantastically colored shapes waltzing and leaping into his vision until they melted into the air. No matter how many times he blinked away the tempting drowsiness, Alfred's vision haunted him. The beautiful creature purred and whispered in his ears, caressing his face and lulling him with that mesmerizing voice, cooing and comforting him when his kidnapper finished with his fangs.

His fangs.

The thought made his swollen gums ache and his ruined teeth throb with agony, his tongue too large for his mouth and the taste of his own venom making bile rise in his throat. He trembled, always making sure to keep his head tipped forward over the bicycle lock to make sure he didn't accidentally overdose on his own toxin.

Vampires all have potent and powerful narcotics within their poisonous venom, each with a different effect depending on the vampire's class. But because vampire blood is already thinned so heavily by the toxins a vampire produces regularly, any additional venom of any kind could prove fatal.

Ivan's body had taught him that shortly after his first milking, the evidence in the putrid mush upchucked all over his lap and front.

Alfred danced and floated through the air again, his pretty blue eyes so innocent yet secretive, his body full and tempting, his lips the shade of love and happiness… Ivan found himself weakened ever more by this temptress, this witch who cursed his chest with fluttering wings and hands with nervous sweat… The cruel demon who made his lips pucker every time that face ghosted closer for a kiss.

* * *

 

"Dude, you don't even get how quick this shit is selling!" Gilbert boasted to his younger brother by two years as the two moved through the house. Ludwig raised an eyebrow at him, otherwise remaining silent as one ear swivelled back. "Like, this has to be the best stuff we've gotten in years!"

"Do not get prideful," Ludwig chastised, focusing back to where he walked. Gilbert sniggered, humming a tune to himself as he counted up the large stack of money he had already earned from just 5 milligrams of the potent venom toxins. The process to purify venom was simple, add a few sweetening agents and cook it over a flame before pulling it up into a syringe for injection, much like one would do with heroin or any of the other addictive drugs so popular among youth. "And please, promise me this time you will refrain from consuming any… We- what is it you like to say, 'We are the producers, not the users'?"

The older wolf grinned mischievously, tongue swiping over his sharp canines as they arrived at the door to their garage. "Something like that," he snickered, tail wagging slightly as he pulled out his keys, fiddling with the lock for a second. But the moment the door swung open, Ludwig leapt back in disgust.

"Scheiße!" Ludwig shouted, covering his nose as Gilbert paled a little, doing the same as his ears flattened. The two wolves stared at the dark room, the rank odor seeming to hit them like a wave of ages old…. Ludwig glowered at his brother. "What the hell are you keeping in there?"

"J-just the vamp?" Gilbert chuckled nervously, his already pale cheeks taking on a sickly green color. Ludwig stared at his idiotic excuse of a sibling before venturing inside, and almost needing to rush back out or risk heaving up his lunch.

"Bruder…" Ludwig seethed through clenched teeth, rounding on Gilbert as the other teen sheepishly held up his hands in self-defense. Ludwig snagged his fists into Gilbert's collar, almost lifting him off of the floor. "What the hell is the son of Winter Braginsky doing in our  _home_?"

"Well, shit I mean-"

Ludwig shoved Gilbert away, slowly circling the heap of skin and bones and dark shadows and panting, weak breath on the floor. Ivan's nearly lifeless eyes watched him as much as they could, his mouth open as he struggled for air, the bicycle lock having left a marring purple scar around his neck. "He smells disgusting. Have you bathed him? Let him use the bathroom?"

"Well, uh, no but, uh-"

"How long did you say you have kept him down here?" Ludwig demanded, fuming with seething, barely controlled rage as his brother fidgeted and broke under his pressure. Gilbert ducked his chin, tail between his legs as he started to realize just what exactly was wrong with this picture.

"Since uh, Friday after school?"

"Bruder," Ludwig took a shuddering, cleansing breath as he clenched one hand into a fist and used the other to rub away the throbbing headache starting to ring through his mind. "It is almost Monday now. Scheiße, Bruder… Have you even fed him?!"

"Wha- of course I have!" Gilbert shouted, lashing out and trying to defend himself as his brother glared and raged at him. He gesticulated wildly for an excuse, making a few disgruntled noises. "I made him a sandwich earlier!"

This time Ludwig actually hit him, the punch cracking across Gilbert's face as his younger brother couldn't hold it in any longer. "I mean blood, Bruder! Blood! Vampires need blood!" he shouted, fists trembling as he stood over Gilbert, the wolf skittering away from him in shock. Ludwig seethed with rage, trembling before turning back to Ivan. He almost approached, and then hesitated.

"You," he addressed after a worried moment, making sure to keep a safe distance from the blood-starved creature. "How far are you from a bloodlust?"

Ivan almost laughed, the chuckle croaking into a husky, strained cough. "Far enough," he answered weakly, deathly eyes blinking slowly as he simply stared at the two wolves. Ludwig nodded, holding his breath as he approached, crouching to Ivan's level.

"Open your mouth," he ordered gently, trying to get a look inside and see how much damage they had caused. The vampire lifted his head a little bit more, his jaw slack and face gaunt from starvation. Ludwig  _tskked_. "What type blood do you take?"

Much like transfusions, blood packets had to be kept strictly regulated by the Food Source Administrations. While vampires and other Parasitic types could drink fresh blood from most any other species, the preservatives pumped into blood packets easily purchasable at local food markets altered the chemical balance of the blood and thus Parasitics have to be more careful when selecting blood or else be at risk of their bodies rejecting the needed nutrient.

"Type O or Type A, if you can get it," Ivan murmured, shuddering as another wave of agony washed over him. Everything felt so rotten and disgusting, he tried not to think too long about just what exactly he had been sitting in for the past two days, the simple thought making him feel even more nauseous. Ludwig nodded.

"Bruder, give me your keys and then go to the store and get six packs of Grade 5 Type A," Ludwig ordered, shifting to get a better look at the locking mechanism securing Ivan to the support pole. Gilbert scowled angrily, obviously put off by his brother's sudden and cruel betrayal.

"Yeah, whatever," he scoffed after he tossed over the key to the lock, tail kept between his legs despite his nonchalant and apathetic attitude when he shuffled back up the stairs and through the door. Ludwig sighed, regaining his composure as he fit the key to the lock.

"I apologize on behalf of my Bruder."

_Not that it matters. I hate it here but at least I am away from_ _**him** _ _…_

"I will assist you to the bath and make sure you are properly fed. Can you walk?" the werewolf continued to pester him with stupid questions, Ivan ignoring every single one as his eyes and throat stung. Air rushed into his chest when he slumped forward, Ludwig catching him all while trying to pull away, not sure if Ivan was simply exhausted or trying to attack him.

"I can," the vampire murmured weakly, but Ludwig insisted on helping him to his feet, averting his eyes from Ivan's soiled and revolting clothing. Ivan couldn't stop himself from leaning heavily against Ludwig as they slowly trudged up each step, Ivan's vision slanting violently to one side every few paces.

He didn't even realize they had made it to the bathroom before Ludwig pulled his now-dirty hands away. "Get undressed, I will wash your clothing for you and bring you towells," he ordered calmly, kneeling by the tub to start running the water. Ivan watched him for a cold, dark moment, slowly reaching out.

The wolf's ears pricked when Ivan gripped the back of his neck, squeezing ever so slightly. "I could kill you, here, now," he murmured, Ludwig's tail swishing compulsively as the wolf held perfectly still, knowing it best not to make any sudden movements. Ivan's face cracked madly into a lopsided and poorly put together smile, his expression all wrong and violated. "For what you have done to me…"

"That is not in your best interest-"

Ivan burst into a fit of giggles, his strained voice husky and broken as his cool exterior shattered into a thousand pieces, his mind racing with horribly wonderful thoughts. Body trembling violently, he shoved Ludwig aside, hands shaking as he tried to take off his shirt. "Ahhhh, but what is the point? I didn't want my venom anyway, I suppose I should be thanking you for ridding me of my burdens!"

The wolf could only stare in startled horror as tears leaking from Ivan's deep sunken eyes streaked down his thinned cheeks in little rivulets, the vampire just staring blankly at an unseen object floating in the air. "I wonder if that is what you wanted…" he murmured into the nothingness, his tears drying up mere moments after they started flowing. Ludwig shakily rose to his feet.

"I will clean your clothes," he repeated again, and this time Ivan undressed in silence, feeling no shame in stripping bare and passing away the soiled cloth. He stepped into the tub, water sloshing as he settled himself into the warm and soothing water. For a moment he could even pretend it washed away the filth that was his flesh and drown him into a next life better than the one he lived. "And I will make sure Bruder pays you at least half of whatever money we earn from your venom. Do you require anything else?"

Ludwig almost turned to leave when Ivan didn't reply for a few moments, but glanced back when the vampire's tired voice stopped him. "I will need a ride to my home," he spoke to the water, running his grimy hands through the cleansing liquid. Ludwig nodded and shifted again, but remained when Ivan spoke to him one more time.

"I have one last question."

"Ja?"

The murderous, spiteful expression on Ivan's face spoke volumes as he slowly turned to Ludwig. His eyes searched desperately for the treacherous reasons he demanded, his scowl so menacing and dark it made Ludwig shudder with anxiety. "Why did Alfred do this to me?"

The bile rose in the back of his throat as he prepared himself for the obvious answer to come, for his suspicions to be confirmed and his hatred justified.

_"Who?"_


	6. What's Best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of Family Drama

"Here is fine," Ivan murmured, the car rumbling to a slow and complete stop before he looked out, able to see the upper stories of his home just around the corner. Ludwig glanced back at him, but turned away when he couldn't meet Ivan's eyes. The vampire stared listlessly at his home for a few long moments before sighing. "Wait for ten minutes before leaving, and my father won't know it's you."

"I'll have Bruder give you your money tomorrow, and I'll make sure those images are destroyed," Ludwig swallowed nervously, the hairs prickling on the back of his neck when he remembered he might have died only a few hours ago from the same creature in the back of his car. Ivan shrugged.

"I hope you are both satisfied," he grumbled before slipping out, trying to use his scarf to hide the obvious puke stains that didn't quite wash out. Ludwig gripped the wheel tightly between his sweaty hands, resisting the urge to drive away from the freaky vamp. Ivan paid him no mind, honestly never wanting to see the wolf and his brother ever again.

Ivan slammed the car door and stuffed his bony and thin hands into his pockets, feeling only somewhat better after his vicious feeding earlier. Blood packets were never the most delicious of meals, but they were enough to satisfy him until he could eat something a bit fresher.

Feet dragging and head bowed, Ivan deftly opened the gate to his home and trudged up the driveway, anxiety pressing harder and harder down on his shoulders with each and every unwanted step closer. His father's black car glistened somewhat in the sunlight, and Ivan felt his heart clench nervously while he passed.

"I'm home," his voice echoed weakly through the halls when he unlocked the door, the air carrying the distinct smell of stale vodka and old blood so characteristic of his home. He shut the door and slipped out of his shoes, lining them up with his father's polished ones. His heart felt like it was going into overdrive when he heard footsteps approach.

Straightening and steeling himself for whatever may come, Ivan slowly turned his head, wearily staring at his father. Winter Braginsky stood quietly in the doorway to the kitchen, thick eyebrows knit together and expression hard to gauge behind his overgrown beard. Those cold bluish-violet eyes looked him over and Ivan almost wanted to lunge for them and dig them out of his father's skull. He didn't, of course, and instead watched him a moment longer, knowing he should be the one to break the ice.

"Father," he acknowledged, the man grunting and slowly coming closer, easily towering quite a bit over his lanky son. Winter inspected Ivan carefully, the younger vampire blinking those idealistic red-violet eyes at him. He could hear his son swallow, could hear his heart racing and struggling, could almost see the defiance in Ivan's face.

The slap cracked across Ivan's cheek, the vampire gasping in shock when his head snapped to the side, a stinging ache flaring up. Ivan trembled for a moment, waiting for something else to happen before gently covering to hurting area, shuddering and facing his father again. He hunched under the hatred and fury in Winter's eyes, backing down like a kicked dog. Winter gripped Ivan's scarf and yanked him close, Ivan stumbling onto his tiptoes or risk falling into his father.

"Where the hell have you been, boy?" Winter spat venomously in Ivan's face, his breath rank with the stench of alcohol as Ivan jerked and pushed himself away, firmly planting himself back on the ground. They stared intensely at each other for a long moment, Ivan racing for an excuse.

Winter grabbed him by the chin and forced his head up when he didn't reply, glaring down into his son's eyes as Ivan struggled to get out of his grip. His upper lip trembled, and Ivan could swear he was snarling at him. "Is this about the bank? Your appointment was on Friday, so you don't even come home! Ivan, that is no way to behave and you are making a fool of me, and yourself! You insolent son of a bitch, how dare you disobey me!"

"Don't touch me!" Ivan shouted, fangs bared as he shoved his father aside, rushing to get around him and up the stairs. There were a few shouts and a scuffle, Ivan kicking and hollering when Winter tried to grab him and pull him back down.

"This is for your own good!" Winter yelled, Ivan furiously yanking his arm and trying to break free. He felt so powerless! He couldn't stand a chance against his father, too blood-starved and weak in comparison to his well-fed and muscular parent. "You need to drink and you know it! Stop this foolish behavior at once!"

"You don't control me!" Ivan spat back, at this point fighting just to fight, frustrated and violated and just-

He wanted to see Alfred. To see him and wrap his arms around him and maybe kiss him until Alfred made everything feel better, because something told him just being held by the sweet body of warmth would make  _everything better_. His cheeks flushed at his lovesick thoughts, a pang of hurt when Gilbert's treacherous pictures flashed through his mind.

"Ivan!" Winter roared when his son managed to wriggle out of his hold, sprinting up the rest of the stairs and slamming the door behind him, locking it and slumping to the floor. He panted weakly, hugging his knees close and listening to his father holler a string of curses in Russian up at him.

Eventually he moved away from the oak door and slunk to his coffin, lifting the lid and blowing away the sheer layer of dust on the top, sneezing somewhat when the faint smell of vodka teased his nose. Ignoring the oddness of that, seeing as he couldn't risk getting drunk and spoiling his blood even more, he slipped inside and shut the lid, pulling his blanket over himself in the comfortable darkness.

His fangs ached and throbbed in their sockets, until Ivan couldn't take it anymore and let them slip into the open air. He gently caressed them, able to feel the grooves where his virginal coat had rubbed off, able to feel the poorly healed veins. He just... felt so violated.  _Used_. The wolves had taken him, locked him up, and stolen his venom from him... And he couldn't even get angry enough to fight back. He hadn't done  _anything_. He just sat there and took it like the weak bitch they told him he was! He could not tell his father, surely Winter would scream and yell at him and further the arguments. He would not go to the police, they would not believe him... All that would do was get Ivan thrown in jail.

Ivan trembled violently, breath puffy and trembling as he pictured himself tearing open the wolves' necks and getting his revenge for what they had done to him...!

Sometimes he wished someone would just bury his coffin until he wouldn't be able to lift the lid ever again, so he could just stay inside and sleep for an eternity…

* * *

 

"Alfred, come on!" Matthew complained from downstairs, his voice still weak from having to get up so early. Alfred naturally paid him no mind, slipping his favorite red hoodie on over his shirt, taking his time in stuffing his belt through the loops on his loose pants. A quick look in the mirror showed him how much of a scrumpy and unattractive image he put on, and he would not have it any other way. He'd rather have lumps on his hips and a bulky and slouched frame hidden by clothes than the tight and skinny and whorish look expected of him and...  _his kind_.

Worming his hand up to his head, he felt the bare patches covered by choppy and poorly cut hair, rubbing the areas where he truly lacked. Lips quirked and drawn into a thin frown, he decided to ignore it like he had to ignore so many other things, slipping his thick-rimmed glasses onto his nose as he milled about in the safety of his messy room.

His phone buzzed on the desk and Alfred nearly leaped over to it, heart racing to see if Ivan-

_Come on, the pancakes are getting cold :(_ , Matthew's message read, making Alfred scowl and toss the device back down. He had waited all weekend for Ivan to give him a ring, or a text… The teen had to have access to a phone, right? And hadn't he agreed to meet up?

Huffing and frustrated all over again, Alfred stuffed his half-assed homework into his backpack and gave himself another once-over before trudging down the stairs, slinging his pack onto the table and sighing. Matthew glanced back at him, turning his head enough to give Alfred a view of-

His horns. Alfred swallowed thickly and stared down at his plate as Matthew headed over, trying out a smile while he dished the pancakes and syrup. "You'll be ready to go when Dad finishes up?" he asked politely, the big softy. Alfred huffed, stuffing the food into his mouth irritably.

"Duh," he grumbled, making Matthew take in a sharp and unhappy breath. In the awkward silence that followed, his brother moved away and gave their dad another pancake, the Englishman grunting in acknowledgement as he shook and snapped his newspaper straight. Another sip of tea and then he sighed, Matthew taking a seat next to him and adjusting his wings to keep them off the ground.

Envy bubbled in Alfred's gut, and he stuffed more pancakes down to suffocate it. No! Matthew wasn't better than him, even if he had wings and was talking about finding a partner to get his tail and his curved and spiked horns-

Why couldn't Alfred have just been born with those stupid horns? Matthew would be better suited to being a succubus anyway, he was quiet and timid and… Seething out a breath through his nose, Alfred kept his chin tucked to his chest, frowning and mulling over his breakfast.

He felt sick.

"Bon matin, mes petits!" their jovial Papa burst into the room with a skip in his step, humming and pecking a quick kiss to Arthur's cheek before taking his seat at the table. Matthew smiled excitedly at him, opening his wings a little bit to subtly show them off. Alfred nearly gagged. "Oh, Matthieu! Look Arthur, our little Matthieu got his wings!"

The human grunted and didn't pay much mind, grumbling something about taxes and turning the newspaper page. Matthew beamed with pride, his cheeks turning a rosy blush as he fidgeted under the attention. Francis nodded and waved him on, leaning in and expecting details. "Y-yeah, she was really nice. Not a virgin, but we had some fun… She gave me them last night."

Alfred rolled his eyes, having heard enough just then. His chair scraped against the wood floor as he stood in a violent rush, screwing his eyes shut so he wouldn't have to look at his family. There was a little pause of awkward silence, and Alfred could feel eyes on his backside as he took his dishes to the sink.

"Well? What species was she?" Francis pestered, highly interested in his sons' sex lives. Matthew fidgeted a little, blushing and looking down to his lap.

"A nymph," Matthew admitted sheepishly, the word soft and quiet as he thought back to her supple body and happy smile when they had finished. Francis nearly squealed with pride, laughing and clapping his hands.

"Oh, marvelous! Very well done, Matthieu!" he praised, all smiles and joy at Matthew's first major sexual accomplishment. Alfred tuned them out, grabbing a sponge and the dish soap before violently going at his plate, hands shaking the more his family talked of sex and "accomplishments" and- "Speaking of, Alfred!"

Dread made Alfred's hands stop in their tracks, unease forcing him to listen in.

"Haven't you found a partner yet? A handsome devil like you ought to have all of the-" Francis hesitated a moment too long and Alfred viciously went back to scrubbing his spotless dish again. Eventually his Papa settled on a word. "-people falling for you!"

An image of a flustered Ivan briefly crossed Alfred's mind but he shook it away, ignoring the intrusive thought. His Papa wouldn't let the topic go so easily. He stood up and went to lean against the counter, right in Alfred's personal space.

"Really," he murmured, patting Alfred's back in an attempt to be comforting. His son shrugged away from him, putting his dish on the towel next to the sink and storming towards his backpack. Despite the obvious lack of enthusiasm, Francis persisted. "It's important, Alfred! Don't be like this, your body craves it and you know it. Besides! Don't you want to show off to everyone? I'm sure someone would give you a lovely tail!"

"I don't want one!" Alfred spat furiously, snatching his bag from the chair as Arthur folded his newspaper and tossed it onto the table. His father stood, stopping Francis from pursuing Alfred and instead did so himself.

"Alfred, don't raise your voice at your father," he scolded, but it lacked emotion and thoughtfulness, just a tired compliant from a tired old man. Alfred flinched guiltily, hesitating by the door when he wanted to rush out and get away from everything… "Look, lad… I don't know how this feels for you but just calm down, alright? Matthew, hurry up, I'm taking you both to school now."

"I'm walking," Alfred huffed angrily, having trouble letting things go. Arthur tried arguing with him but by the time he opened his mouth, Alfred was out the door and running down the street, not even looking back at them. He sighed.

"Stop pressuring him," he scolded Francis on his way back inside, sighing. Francis and Matthew both looked a bit guilty, glancing at each other. With a flick of his hand, Arthur summoned his teacup and car keys to him, sighing. "I'm not a sex demon but even if I was, I'd know Alfred gets uncomfortable with sex talks."

"But he has to start accepting that this is who he is!" Francis countered, defending himself as he glared at the foolish mage. "I don't want our son to mess himself up even more! Arthur, mon cher, it's what's best for him. He needs to have sex, it's part of his biology. It's for his own good."

"And it's for his sanity that I'm putting my foot down," Arthur huffed angrily, turning away. "If he doesn't want to have sex then leave him alone! It's none of your business anyway. Matthew, hurry up."

The young incubus scurried to his father's side, feeling awful about his wings now. He tried hiding them, curling them around himself so they wouldn't stick out so much. Francis sighed angrily and shook his head, grumbling about the stupid mage.

He and Arthur had fallen into a bizarre sort of relationship many years ago (more than Francis would like to admit), and this whole mess had started when his lover asked to bring his magic into the bedroom. Being an incubus himself, and a rather devious one at that, Francis had agreed. One mistake led to another, and nine months later they were stuck with kids, a horrible nod to mother nature. Identical twin sex demons, save for one key factor that would ruin Alfred's life forever...

 


	7. In Your Own Time

"Mr. Jones, a word, please," the demon leading the class sighed as the final bell rang, the other fledglings eagerly stuffing their work into their backpacks and clumping together in their usual cliques and groups. Alfred groaned, steeling himself for the lecture he just knew was coming the moment the bell rang over their heads and throughout the halls. Feet dragging a thousand pounds of peer pressure, the other succubi giggled and pointed at Alfred's bare back as he passed them, their various assortment of fluttering bat wings and swishing cord tails on display as they gossiped.

Despite his best efforts, Alfred's cheeks colored with flustered unease.

"Yeah?" he grumbled, awkwardly standing in front of the teacher's desk as the demon's shoulders slouched with another heavy, tired sigh. The teenager shifted on his feet as his teacher pieced together her argument, his eyes flicking to the door and calculating about how long it would take for him to run out before she could even try catching him.

"Mr. Jones," Ms. Elizabeta started, and then shook her head, grumbling about how awkward it sounded to call her student by his last name. She waved him to pull up a chair, settling herself down for the serious talk that would have to follow. Tension almost dripping down the walls and suffocating them both, Alfred begrudgingly moved to take a seat, keeping his head bowed. "Alfred. I'm worried about you."

"Don't be," Alfred instantly scoffed, crossing his arms defensively and refusing to look at her, a tremble shuddering up and down his spine as he struggled to control himself. Elizabeta sighed, a parental look of strained patience on her face when she leaned over her desk, wanting to get closer to her strangest student yet. "After all, I'm a freak, aren't I?"

"Alfred, don't be so hard on yourself," Elizabeta chastised, already frustrated when she realized just how futile her attempts at comforting the boy would be. "Look, I know- your family, you like them, don't you?"

"Yeah, sure, of course I do," Alfred rolled his eyes sarcastically, his words sharp and cruel and unjustly mean. A hand slowly reached toward his head unconsciously, rubbing the little patch of hair-covered scalp above his ear, searching for the horns he just didn't have. Just seeing the troubled movement made Elizabeta's heart clench and swoon with pity, every fiber of her being wanting to help the poor child. "They feed me and clothe me and give me a house. They're real great."

"And your friends?"

Another flash of Ivan, those rosy and embarrassed cheeks, those only partially averted eyes, that sweet smile shyly pulling at the corners of his lips... Alfred nearly punched himself in the gut.

"I don't have any."

"What about that Kiku you were telling me about? He seemed nice, for a dragon shifter."

"Look!" Alfred shouted as he burst from his chair and slammed his hands onto her desk, frustrated and annoyed and just so done with everyone beating around the bush and treating him like a precious baby that must be sheltered from the evils of the universe. What a load of  _bullshit!_ "Just get to the fucking point already!"

The outburst had Elizabeta flinching back with shock, an angry look crossing her features when Alfred grew violent. She rose as well, but with a more collected and powerful air than Alfred could ever manage, concentrating on breathing steadily and calmly. "Don't get mad at me, I'm only trying to help. You haven't even started fledging yet, it's important to fledge as soon as you can. You're getting old, and people don't like old… demons."

Alfred nearly barked with laughter, shaking his head and trembling all over again, a pounding starting up in his head as he twitched with amused rage. He stepped away from her desk, snatching up his backpack and sneering at his teacher. "And why should I care what people want? I'm just fine the way I am! I'm not going to let someone fuck me just for some stupid trophy wings and a tail! There, are you happy now?! I'm not here for someone else's pleasure!"

And Elizabeta knew it, but just watching her student get so violently upset at the idea made her desperate. She flopped back into her chair, knowing she would look less threatening from a lower angle. "Alfred, I'm going to have to hold you back again, you know that, right? You're so smart, don't ruin your chances at a good life by being stubborn about sex. You're an A student but you're failing Demons 101, the school won't let you advance until you've passed this class."

"That's not fair!" Alfred shouted, hating this part. THIS part, this one  _stupid_  part. If he were any other stupid species he would be seen as a saint, a holy being of purity that would reject all advances and smile in the face of adversity. But  _nooo_ , he had to be born as a cock-craving, pleasure-addicted  _whore_  of a demon no matter how much he desperately wished people would see him as more than just a species. Elizabeta watched him warily, hands folded on top of her desk and her chocolate brown hair draping in front of her face.

"Alfred- I can't possibly imagine how hard this is for you," she started, picking at her manicured nails before standing up again, breasts jiggling slightly from the top of her blouse as she moved around her desk to him. Alfred huffed and didn't reply, just trembling with rage and despair. He  _knew_  he was better than this… "But I stand by my words. You know I'm a succubus too, don't you?"

He nodded dumbly, because it was obvious just in the way she carried herself and the way her wings moved and tail curled and beckoned for people to turn their gaze towards her. Her smile weakened somewhat, but still managed to stay put across her cheeks. "Must've been hard landing a job…" he mumbled lamely, not really sure where this conversation was going anymore.

"Everyone thought I'd go start up a demon hive somewhere, or make a killing at a brothel," she murmured, gently patting Alfred's head before stroking his silky hair, finding the smoothness fine and desirable for anyone to run their fingers through. She dropped her hand. "But I didn't want that. I knew that sex just wasn't for me. It was a part of me I couldn't deny, but I didn't want to let my life be consumed by it. Being a teacher was the highest job I could get and I worked so hard to be here… I know you will do great things with yourself, Alfred."

"Thank you," he murmured softly, cerulean eyes big and baby blue with the beginnings of tears, having not expected his favorite teacher to share something so personal and private with him. He ducked his chin to his chest, looking down the frame of his lithe and only slightly muscular frame that would have made all of the girls hot for him had he been born an incubus. "I… I'll try a little harder, maybe… But in my own time."

She smiled and pat his back, nodding and helping him collect his things again. "In your own time."

[-]

Ivan checked himself when he noticed he was touching his fangs again, the feel of them rough and some how comforting to him with the way they stung in protest. He worked his jaw for a moment and sheathed them once more, standing up straight and tall when Alfred finally wandered out of his class. The succubus seemed lost in thought when he finally emerged, but gasped in shock when he realized who was waiting for him.

"I-Ivan!" he breathed incredulously, a fierce blush coming to his cheeks with scarlet to match Ivan's own colors, the two only staring for a minute. Ivan shifted and did his best to lower his eyes, trying to banish the thoughts of wiping away that breathless look with deep kisses and caresses. Alfred did the same, until the awkward standing was too much for him. "H-hey."

"Ah-" Ivan fumbled, worrying his hands at the end of his scarf, rubbing his thumbs across the soft fabric and shyly managing to lift his eyes. Alfred stared back at him, and then shuffled forward, checking the halls to make sure they were alone. A few fairies lingered not far away, but he knew they would be watching as soon as they noticed them. "Hey!"

Ivan's yelp didn't deter Alfred at all as he tugged him into the closest bathroom, shoving the startled teen into one of the stalls and squeezing in with him, locking the door and letting out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Wh-what were you doing out there? I thought you didn't want people to see us together!"

"I-I don't, but I-"  _wanted to see you. I need to see you._ "I thought you wanted to study with me, da? But I didn't know when you were thinking of-"

"Oh my god," Alfred deadpanned at him, jaw slackened with sheer disbelief. There was an awkward, flustered little pause as Alfred just stared and stared at him until Ivan fidgeted somewhat, suddenly horribly self-conscious in the little stall. If Alfred pressed a little closer, Ivan would have to stumble against the toilet or the wall, and Alfred would fall to his knees and- "Hey! Hey, stop that!"

"Wha-?"

"Stop staring at me like that, oh my  _god._  And I  _gave_  you my phone number. Don't tell me you don't have a phone, I've seen you use it before," Alfred huffed, crossing his arms with embarrassment and looking away when Ivan didn't quite stop looking at him. His cheeks had an endearing amount of pudge to them, giving him a cute and almost irresistible air that made Ivan's weak heart almost over work itself. It tended to like doing that whenever he was around Alfred.

Alfred sure was cute when he sulked…

"No no  _no_ , stop it," Alfred huffed, shoving his hand right up by Ivan's big nose and pushing his face forcefully away, startling the vampire again. At Ivan's hurt and definitely concerned expression, Alfred knew he'd have to explain. But it was just such an awkward topic, and there was no way he'd talk about it in the boy's  _bathroom_  of all stupid places to be talking. "Look, just… Don't…  _Think_  so much when you look at me, okay? Just…  _Don't._ "

"I- apologize?" Ivan blinked slowly, confusion written all over his face as Alfred looking increasingly uncomfortable, following him out when the succubus unlocked the stall door. Alfred shook his head in dismissal, and Ivan certainly wasn't one to push a conversation so instantly uncomfortable like that. "You wanted to study with me… Da?"

"Yeah… You can just text me, big guy. Just  _tappity-tap-tap_  on your phone and tell me when and where you wanna meet up," Alfred smiled, although it wavered when he caught his face in the mirror and how-

He dashed to the sink and hurriedly splashed water onto himself, shaking and trembling a little when Ivan just put on a dumb, stupid,  _adorably_ lost expression on his flawless porcelain face. But it was at that point Alfred finally noticed something. He whirled on his heel, marching up to Ivan and staring him dead-on. Naturally, the vampire struggled not to back up when so directly confronted.

"Hey, Ivy, you're looking pretty pale… I mean, you're always pale but now you look, like…  _Especially_ pale under all that blush. Are you okay?"

The question took Ivan a few moments to piece together and work through, but eventually he just nodded shyly. "Da, it is nothing, I am fine… Anyway... Were you maybe wanting to come to the library with me? That seems like the best place to start our… studying."

"Uh, oh- yeah, sure, definitely. Sounds great. But, I'm a little busy today… When are you free?"

"My time is almost always open," Ivan informed him softly, eyes averted and far away as if grimacing at a painful memory. Alfred didn't pry, figuring it would be out of place to get so personal. At least, for now. "Perhaps tomorrow?"

"Sure! I look forward to it. Can I just meet you there after school?"

"Da… That sounds good."

"Great!" Alfred beamed at him, getting excited enough to lose track of himself again. He leaned in and wrapped Ivan up in a short, quick hug, squeezing him tight and then pulling away a moment later. "I'll see you around, then!"

Ivan could only wave before Alfred was out the door, scrambling and tripping over himself to get wherever it was he needed to go.

Leaving Ivan to wonder just how much of his time Alfred was going to be taking from now on…


	8. Learn Something New

 

“Touch me,” the words breathed over Ivan’s face, those seductively full lips parted in a sultry and upturned pout, those eyes imploring him to obey and begging to seek release. A shudder wracked its way up Ivan’s spine and he found himself powerless to resist, and in his heart of hearts he knew he would never even dream of denying the sweet body that opened for him and accepted him with a breathy smile. “Yes, give me more… I want you, I need you… Ivan…-!”

“Ivan!” Alfred almost screamed but restrained his voice to a whisper, beet red in the face when he finally snapped Ivan from his trance, finding himself shoving Alfred against the bookcase with the vampire’s face far too close to his. The cloud of induced lust jerked back into focus and sent Ivan reeling away, covering his mouth and hurriedly retracting his fangs. Alfred fussed to collect himself, hugging his stack of books close to his chest and shaking as he watched Ivan back away in embarrassment. “G-geez… Someone could have seen you…”

“I-I apologize,” Ivan mumbled shamefully, eyes downcast and averted as his fingers toyed with his pale lips, and Alfred knew he was picturing what they would feel like puckered and pressed against his own. The succubus shivered and turned away quickly, plucking two more books off of the shelf.

“It’s fine.”

“I don’t know what came over me…”

“It’s fine! Chill out, big guy! Seriously,” Alfred rolled his eyes and brushed off the pervasive and vivid fantasies racing through his head when he felt ivan’s eyes glance back up at him. His hands shook almost as much as his knees as he worried and gnawed on his lower lip. “L-let’s just get more books on Astronomy, okay?”

“Ah-- da!” Ivan gasped and turned on his heel, giving Alfred a moment to breathe calmly and steel his mind, the stooping vampire refocusing on the task at hand. Already they had gathered quite an impressive selection of texts on the subject, but if it got Ivan’s mind off of sex for a little bit, Alfred didn’t care at all about piling more books into their hands. That, and he was actually extremely excited to start reading!

“Okay, I think we’re good,” he grinned cheekily to his partner, turning over his shoulder as Ivan bounded back up over to him like an excited puppy. A puppy! Alfred always wanted a puppy. Ivan smiled breathily at him, and a soft and warm fuzzy feeling bloomed in Alfred’s chest. A good pet puppy…

“The tables on the second story normally are empty, we should study there,” Ivan walked right past him, obviously expecting Alfred to follow. The succubus took a second to admire the view before skipping after him, hoping no one else in the sparsely populated library would notice them pass. They were in public now, completely open for anyone to see and start talking, and Alfred honestly hoped to milk Ivan for as much knowledge as he could before their little get-togethers would have to stop. The vampire was nice, if easily entranced and a bit clumsy when he was caught staring.

Sure enough, the tables were about as empty as Ivan had informed him they would be, the only other occupant was a cat girl curled up in a chair by the window, completely consumed in her romance novel. They didn’t spare her more than a glance, their texts thumping heavily on the sturdy desk when they dropped them. Ivan sighed happily as he sank into one of the open chairs, sliding his collection closer before picking out one of the lighter volumes. “What would you like to begin with?”

The question stumped Alfred, and for all of his eagerness, it took him a long moment to answer. “I guess… Maybe the S-Solar System?” he blushed hotly, praying to the Heavens he so longed to learn about that he had used the correct term. his stingy father always limited the time he and Matthew were allowed on the family computer at home, something about not wanting their minds to be corrupted by the evils of the internet and the rising price of electricity in their country. Ivan nodded, completely unphased as he carefully removed a book from one of the bottom parts of the stack, passing it over as Alfred let out a relieved breath. He’d gotten that part right, at least.

They settled down and tucked into their books, but the silence weighed uncomfortably on Alfred. He struggled to focus on the words on the page, the letters swimming in his vision as he forced his eyes to stare at them and try absorbing their words and meanings. A throbbing ache started pulsing from behind his temples, his mouth dried up and his heartbeat thundered in his ears. “S-so Ivan!” he almost screamed again, fidgeting and antsy and squirming in his seat when his vampire companion lifted his head from his own book. Alfred couldn’t even read the title on it.

“Da….?” the teen blinked slowly, pale cheeks tinging a soft pink as he stared and waited for Alfred to finish. Cool relief flushed through Alfred’s heated flesh, Ivan’s calm presence chilling his overstimulated body. Alfred swallowed.

“C-could you… Help me?” he blushed hotly, feeling stupid and insignificant as he slid the book back to Ivan, pointing at the first word on the first chapter on the first page. Ivan sat up straight and then leaned over the text in a fluid motion, shaggy and silky platinum hair swishing down from where he had it tucked behind his ear.

“With what?” he asked plainly, and Alfred almost wanted to smack him for asking such a stupid question. Or rather, smacking himself.

“The text. It’s…. I can’t read it,” Alfred grumbled, feeling the trembling start back up in his body. At home he could spend hours working through material and watching the words swim about on the page, but in the library it was just… The soft rustling of Ivan’s book when he turned the page made him anxious, queasy with his own incapabilities when put side by side to someone so much more capable and adapted to the intellectual world…

“What do you mean?” Ivan asked, eyebrows furrowed and cinched together when he glanced back down to the words Alfred pointed at. The sentence was simple enough…? “You… You can read, though, right?”

The fierce blush that crawled across Alfred’s cheeks and left Ivan’s eyes wide as dinner plates only made Alfred want to implode even more. “Of course I can! I-I’m just…” he slid his glasses down from his nose and scrubbed furiously at them with his cleaning cloth, fidgeting and trembling as self-loathing butchered the remnants of his good mood. “I’m dyslexic, and I… can’t focus like this...”

“Oh,” Ivan hummed in understanding and then set his own book down, pulling Alfred’s into his lap and skimming the first few lines, leaving Alfred fidgeting and wiggling in his chair to relieve his hyperactivity. “Would you like me to read it to you, then?”

The unexpected casualness to Alfred’s secret left the succubus speechless. His family had given up long ago on trying to remedy his disorder, figuring that as a sex demon he wouldn’t make much use of being able to read anyway. “Y-you’d do that?” he blushed hotly, and the perplexed little nod of Ivan’s affirmation almost left him swooning over the table. “Y-yeah, yes! Yes please!” he found himself almost begging, scooting his chair as close as he could get and tipping the novel forward, wanting to look over it and see if he could follow along.

“Then, I suppose we will begin,” Ivan chuckled, and Alfred lost himself in the smooth liquid melody of Ivan’s accented voice reading the text, soft and slow enough to understand but fast enough to satisfy Alfred’s desire to learn as much as possible as quick as possible.

[-]

“The library is closing in ten minutes, please check out your books now,” the announcement informed the large building, cutting right into the middle of one of Ivan’s sentences about Black Holes and their importance to the universe. The teens jerked up and scrambled apart from each other, Alfred having somehow scooted so close he rested his head in the crook of Ivan’s shoulder, the vampire not really noticing nor caring as he just read and read and read… A small stack of the thinner books lay in the ‘finished’ pile, a few of the thicker ones put off for another date.

Alfred blushed and coughed into his fist, trying to dispel the suddenly awkward air when they realized just what they had been doing, in public, for the whole world to see-- “Er, uh… Thanks so much for this, big guy,” Alfred started, laughing nervously as he checked himself, tugging his sweatshirt down lower from where it had rode up. Ivan adjusted his scarf, checking the time on his cellphone as if doubting the announcer.

“It is no trouble, I enjoyed myself,” he smiled simply, gathering up the few remaining books on Stars, String Theory, Interstellar Distances… They had accumulated quite a variety of informative text books, and they had just been getting to an interesting part in the one they were reading…. Alfred seemed to be thinking the same thing. “Perhaps we should relocate and continue?”

“Yeah!” Alfred instantly agreed, overjoyed to help transport the load down the stairs and towards the checkout counter, walking close enough to Ivan to bump against him every few steps. The vampire just smiled and even gave a nudge back in return, making sure to keep it cool and not look at Alfred. “You know, you have a really cool voice!”

“Do I?” Ivan pondered with a cute blush, and then spared Alfred a quick and harmless glance. Or so he thought. A rushing image of Alfred spread out on the library table and crying out for Ivan to go faster, harder, deeper shot through the succubus’ head, leaving Alfred speechless for a shocked moment. “I-I rather enjoy your voice, too…”

“Okay, dude, stop,” Alfred huffed and completely shut him off, turning his head away when Ivan made a hurt and confused little noise. Yeah. He definitely needed to explain some things. “Don’t think things like that and then say things like that.”

“Think like-- what?”

The embarrassed red burning across Ivan’s cheeks just made Alfred groan uncomfortably, the lady at the checkout counter looking puzzled as she started swiping their books over the scanner. Sucking in a trembling little sigh, Alfred steeled himself and looked Ivan straight in the eye. “I’ll explain when we get to your place, okay? Just… Just take a chill pill, alright? Seriously, here I thought you weren’t like--”

Needless to say, the hurried walk/run/sprint back to Ivan’s mansion-like estate was awkward and rushed, neither wanting to be caught and neither wanting to really arrive. Ivan jabbed in the gate code and shut it behind them, relieved when they were finally behind closed doors. The air in his house barely stirred, as per usual, stale and smelling faintly of alcohol. He didn’t bother closing the curtains as he had last time, leading Alfred to the stairs and glancing back only once to the breathless and beautiful guest in his home.

His fangs hurt.

“My room is this way,” he informed quietly, and then turned and almost ran up them. He didn’t know what he had done wrong, everything had been going so amazingly! They had spent an entire afternoon and then some side by side, reading about the planets and the stars, and then they moment they stopped Alfred had yelled at him and….

His heart throbbed.

“I-Ivy, big guy, wait up,” Alfred’s brassy and beautiful voice called after him, a pleading tone to it that left Ivan hesitating at the top of the stairs. The succubus trudged up them with the stack of books in his arms, cheeks red and eyes fleety and anxious. “Look, I… I need to apologize.”

“Nyet, I obviously have done something to offend you, do not.”

“No, really,” Alfred insisted, and the knife buried deep in Ivan’s chest twisted with the guilt of having caused the pang of sadness in his… What was Alfred to him, anyway? Acquaintance? Classmate? Friend…? “I lashed out at you for something you didn’t know about, that’s my fault and I need to apologize. Show me where your room is, I’ll explain everything.”

“This one,” Ivan gestured to his door and then shouldered his way inside, setting the astronomy books on his desk as Alfred wandered in. He moved about, kicking off his shoes and slinging his backpack into his chair and then turning when Alfred gasped.

“Oh my god!” the teen nearly shrieked, dropping the books and scrambling back into the hallway. Alarmed, Ivan pursued him with a nervous and panicked look, eyes wide and worried as Alfred stammered and pointed into his room.

“What? What is the matter?”

“There’s a fucking coffin in your room!” Alfred screamed, knees knocking together as he almost collapsed. The terrified look on his face was absolutely priceless, and Ivan instantly felt bad for giggling at Alfred’s expense. “Ivan! There’s a COFFIN! In your room!”

“Da, it is where I sleep.”

“You-- wait, really?” Alfred gasped, the idea completely foreign and unreal as he slowly walked back into Ivan’s room, guided by the vampire’s sweet smile. Just looking at the dark wood standing so stiff, just a box on the floor… “I thought that was just a myth, I didn’t-- isn’t it uncomfortable?”

“Nyet, the inside is padded,” Ivan explained, kneeling beside his worn down box and pointing to the crimson colored cushions as Alfred dropped down to his side, ogling the strange bed. His caramel-toned hands slowly traced the edge of the smooth wood, amazed at the flawless polish and the softness of the cushioning.

“It looks kinda small… You can really fit inside?” Alfred asked nervously, not sure if he really wanted that particular question answered. With a short nod, Ivan stepped over the rim and settled down, fluffing his limp pillow before lying back, stretching his thin blanket over the length of his body. He made a subconscious reach for the lid, and then remembered that he wasn’t actually going to sleep. With his body laid out and flat on the worn cushions, he crossed his arms over his chest and shut his eyes to mimic his sleeping posture. “STOP! Oh my god, you look like you’re dead!”

Alfred’s worried hands fumbled and grabbed at his wrists, pulling them away as the succubus panicked, completely unsettled by how little Ivan’s chest rose and the unearthly pale complexion of his bony face. “Would you like to join me?” Ivan teased as he rose up, a playful if not shy smile on his face when he glanced at Alfred’s hands on his own, that blush coloring his cheeks again.

Alfred swallowed. “Is it big enough?” he questioned nervously, but all the same crawled on top of Ivan and maneuvered his body into the cramped little space. They shifted and grazed past each other, neither able to meet the other’s eyes when they finally settled, chest to chest and legs tangled together.

“I-it appears so,” Ivan mumbled after a moment, licking his lips and trying to melt into the wall of his coffin, hoping Alfred couldn’t rub against him and-- “But, it is made to fit only one.”

“Yeah, I guess it is!” Alfred laughed awkwardly, eyes searching Ivan’s for… something. Approval? Happiness? Lust…? Realizing his train of thought, Alfred jerked upright, flushing madly when he realized Ivan could see past the hem of his loose-fitted jeans and to the dip and curve of his ass. He blushed and fidgeted, wiggling and tugging his hoodie down again when Ivan sat upright behind him. “O-okay… I guess… I should tell you some things about me now, huh?”

When Ivan didn’t quite give an affirmative or negative answer, Alfred just pressed on into the awkward silent, shoulders hunching when he could feel Ivan’s eyes on him. Like a scanner, they roved up and down the expanse of his body, mapping him and wondering where all of his sensitive spots would be- “My back. Under the arms. Behind the knees. Between my toes. That’s where they are.”

“Wha-”

“My sensitive spots,” Alfred filled in for him, turning over one shoulder to look Ivan right in the eye, concentrating before sending a blast of mental images to him. Judging by the hot blush and the breathy look that took over Ivan’s face, he knew he had done his damage. He looked away, cutting off his thoughts with memories of burgers and rock music to distract himself. Ivan blinked slowly, and then rubbed his eyes, startled and confused.

“How did you…?”

“That’s what I’ve been meaning to explain,” Alfred sighed, scrubbing an annoyed hand through his hair before glancing up at Ivan again, keeping his mind in check as the vampire just gave him a stupefied look. “See, it’s not really… correct to call a succubus and an incubus sex demons... I mean, yeah, what we do is have sex and stuff but, like… We’re demons of the mind. We can force our thoughts on people, sort of? It’s hard to explain. But it’s one of the techniques we can use when we’re hunting for food.”

“I don’t… quite understand how you mean that?”

“Well, you just got a big urge to jump me just now, didn’t ya? I planted that thought in your head,” Alfred blushed when the words just tumbled so casually out of his mouth… He scrubbed under his nose and gave Ivan a moment to let that sink in while he scrubbed shamefully under his nose. “Incubi and succubi, we can just look at people and send their minds signals that make them react to us… It makes falling into bed a lot easier.”

The awkward atmosphere weighed down on them for a long while as Ivan’s eyes widened and then dropped to his lap, flicking back and forth as his mind struggled to comprehend the completely bizarre idea that Alfred could have such power over him… But, just thinking on it made him realize that no, it actually wasn’t such a far fetched idea. Alfred was the one that made his weak heart race and his palms get sweaty and his stomach churn with nausea… It was because of Alfred, plain and simple.

“That being said, the reverse is true,” Alfred coughed, swiping his pink tongue across those lovely lips that Alfred must have told Ivan were lovely because otherwise that would mean-- “If someone looks at us with desire, we hear their thoughts… Experience their fantasies… Our minds sync. It’s supposed to help with feeding, again, because then we know just what that person wants-- with us.”

The blond dropped his chin to his chest and turned away again, hugging himself tightly and gripping the material of his hoodie as he struggled not to tremble. Ivan snapped from his daze, banishing the perverted thoughts he had momentarily let run wild when he heard such things. Alfred swallowed thickly. “D-do you even know how horrible that is? To have people look at you like you’re meat, and then be forced to picture their disgusting fetishes played out on you… Do you know how invasive it is to walk in a room and make heads turn, only to see yourself spread out and taken by everyone, to see yourself on your knees and moaning like a whore, to see yourself begging for them to use you however they want…? Every day I just get bombarded with these fucking visions, from strangers on the street to the kid sitting next to me in class… The incubi get it lucky, most people just look away because it’s hard to admit to wanting to be dominated… but for me, for a succubi… I’m terrified to walk outside my house because I never know when someone is actually… going to hurt me the way they think they want to.”

“Alfred,” Ivan murmured softly when the blond finished, and then gasped at the sight of a sparkling tear dripping from Alfred’s chin, the front of his hoodie already stained with fallen droplets of manifested sadness. The vampire hesitated, and then reached for him, setting a warm hand on Alfred’s shoulder. It felt wrong to touch the succubus after a speech like that, but… He felt he needed to comfort him in whatever way possible. He opened his mouth to speak, but Alfred cut him off quickly.

“Th-that’s why I like you, Ivan,” Alfred murmured quietly, swiping away his tears before turning stiffly to face his friend. They were definitely friends now. “You don’t think like they do… You don’t think I’m a bag of flesh and bones open for anyone to use, you don’t think I’m a hopeless case, you don’t think I’m stupid or that I need to stop talking… You’re… You’re sweet. Gentle.”

Alfred’s hands felt warm and soft when they cupped Ivan’s cheeks, holding his face still as they stared intimately into each other’s eyes, Ivan’s breath stolen and his heart hammering in his chest. “I could look at you all day.”

“And I, you,” Ivan breathed, because that’s all he could think of. His mind went momentarily blank, just stunned by everything that happened in the last few minutes. Stunned at the pain in Alfred’s eyes, stunned at the closeness of their bodies but the lack of overpowering heat… Stunned at the friend he had just made.

Alfred stared at him for a moment longer and then broke out into a little laugh, dabbing at his eyes again as he pulled away. “S-sorry big guy, maybe that was a little much for you? Although to be clear, I only can transmit and receive the pervy stuff… I can’t just, like, make someone get me pancakes or something.”

“You are hungry?” Ivan suggested, desperate for a change of topic when the option finally arose. Alfred laughed and grinned a cheeky little grin, completely recovered and back to the bright and cheery mystery Ivan had fallen for.

“For knowledge!” he teased, nudging Ivan’s shoulder before hopping out of the coffin, scurrying to the stack of abandoned books. “Let’s keep reading!”

 


	9. Natural

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The book mentioned is Ayn Rand's "Anthem", it's a good read if you make it into RusAme.

"Hey there," Alfred swung down from his usual hiding place, Ivan peering up at the branches as he settled down on the hill. Sunlight filtered through the leaves and if Ivan didn't know any better he'd say that Alfred was like an angel descending from Heaven just to bless him with his presence. A smile tugging at his lips, Ivan unpacked the small lunch he had brought with him while Alfred thumped heavily on the ground next to him.

"Hey," he answered, the word awkward and loud and a little embarrassing with how it tumbled from his lips like a can falling out of a cupboard onto an unsuspecting person. Alfred took it in stride, a beaming smile flashing across his face as he crouched to Ivan's level. "I have another book for you."

"Ohh, gimme gimme!" Alfred grinned with excitement, Ivan getting momentarily distracted by just how lovely those pearly white teeth were as he dug through his pack, pulling the thin and well-loved novel out. He passed it over, Alfred fidgeting with eager excitement as he turned it over and ran his fingers along the pages. " _Anthem_?"

"Da," Ivan nodded shyly, picking off the crust of his highly processed bread, careful not to tear away any of the peanut butter and jelly on the inside with it. Alfred hummed out an understanding note, flopping into a more comfortable sitting position against the thick oak trunk. Ivan watched him with a fond smile as Alfred skimmed the back. "It is a dystopian, about a man who wants to be a scientist but his society won't let him. He meets a woman, and because they are never allowed to be together in their world, they run away… They find an abandoned house and live off the land… It is a good book."

"Sounds like it," Alfred grinned, tucking the small novel into his kangaroo pocket, the shape of it awkward and bulky in the baggy sweatshirt. They had been doing this for almost a month now, exchanging books and spending their afternoons sneaking out to the library and sometimes to Ivan's estate when it was safe, reading up on everything they possibly could. Alfred gasped and hit his fist into the palm of his other hand, rolling over to his backpack and pulling out a little baggie. "Papa made these cookies yesterday, you want them? I don't think there's anything sexy in them so they should be okay to eat."

Ivan smiled, giving Alfred a little nod as he accepted the bag, pulling the ribbon out of its messy knot and sampling the treat. "Mm!" he blinked in surprise after stuffing his mouth full without really looking, the sweetly sour taste of lemon essence coming alive in his mouth. He stared a little closer at the soft cookie in his hand, eyes getting even wider when he noticed the shape. "They are shaped like sunflowers?"

Alfred chuckled a little, giving Ivan's shoulder a playful shove as he stole a cookie for himself, crumbs falling on his sweatshirt as he popped almost all of it into his mouth in one go. "Yeah! Aren't they cute?" he grinned, licking his fingers clean of the icing with a curled little smirk. "Papa likes making girly foods like this, but Mattie is normally the one taking them now. Gives 'em to the girls he wants."

"I see…"

They relaxed together in the shady privacy of their little hideout that wasn't all that private, but no one ever came out to this part of the school so they didn't worry about it anyway. By the time the bag of cookies was half empty and his lunch was finished, Ivan realized that he wasn't strained for a smile any more, and that it was just...  _there_. On his face. _Natural_.

A bubbly feeling bloomed in his belly like a freshly opened soda can, and he found himself grinning like the idiot he must have become when Alfred took note of his expression. "What, they're that yummy?" Alfred snickered, slouching against Ivan's arm and curling up slightly at his side, able to look at him a little better now. A breeze rustled by and blew Alfred's vibrant blond hair into his face, the succubus groaning and struggling to keep the longer strands tucked behind his ear. "Damn, it's getting even worse now, huh? Winter's on its way."

"What?" Ivan gasped and lurched upright, searching frantically all around him before sagging back against the tree with a heavy sigh, realizing Alfred had been talking about the season and not his father. His friend blinked away the startled look on his face as he leaned in a little closer, tilting his head.

"You okay, big guy?" he questioned softly, treading lightly in his words to make sure Ivan didn't react unfavorably to him. The vampire looked ready to bolt at any moment, even paler with his whole body just giving off a vivid _spooked_  vibe. Ivan nodded weakly, hiding his gulp by adjusting his scarf.

"Ah… Sorry. Yes, I am fine," he nodded, but the movement was stiff and awkward and Alfred didn't need any mind reading powers to know Ivan was definitely  _not_  fine. Ivan shifted uncomfortably under Alfred's intense stare, struggling to keep his thoughts pure when Alfred leaned in and gripped the loop his scarf made around his neck. He let himself be tugged closer, face mere inches from Alfred's as those blue eyes pierced his soul and searched it, gazing into the depths of his secrets. "My father and I had a fight."

He didn't even know what made him say it, didn't know why he let those suffocating words free for Alfred. The succubus' sharp expression melted into a gentle one, his thumbs stroking Ivan's cheeks to soothe him as he just waited for the vampire to collect himself and explain further. He didn't know why… but he felt as if his breath was stolen from his lungs in a cleansing release, chest sagging as he relaxed in almost a daze. Alfred's hands cupped his face and it was as if a blanket of warmth had been draped over his shoulders and he just felt so comfortable being held with such loving hands...

"He wants me to give my first bite, but I am afraid," Ivan murmured softly, his mouth stuffed with so much cotton he choked just trying to let the words out. Alfred watched him carefully, eyes soft and patient, a bizarre look for him to have. Ivan could hear his heart beat slow and his mind fog over as he spilled out his secrets, telling Alfred everything his piercing blue eyes wanted to know. "My fangs are damaged, when my father finds out he will… He has tried so many times to get me a bank but I do not want to go… I do not want a stranger… He hit me again, yesterday."

Ivan almost whined at the loss of touch when Alfred pulled his hands away, a shaken expression on his paled face as they just stared at each other. Blinking slowly, Ivan suddenly pulled back in shame, ducking his chin as a blush crept over his pale face. "Does… Does he do that a lot?" Alfred asked in a soft, terrified voice after a minute, the hand resting on Ivan's thigh so hot Ivan swore he was burning under it.

"What, hit me? Nyet," the vampire shook his head, eyes focusing on Alfred's chewed up fingernails and the caramel color of his flawless skin. Somehow nail biting didn't seem like Alfred's sort of tick, but the more he thought on it, the more logical it seemed. Being the little bundle of energized nerves, it wasn't exactly a stretch by any means. Ivan wondered if maybe he should bite his nails, too. "Very rarely does he do more than yell. He threatened to bite me a few times, but he never acts on it. He is good to me."

"You sure?" Alfred followed up after a short minute, leaning some of his weight onto his hand as he pressed it into Ivan's thigh, shifting closer to his face to gauge his expression. Ivan nodded slowly, letting his head droop low to Alfred's hand before Alfred hurriedly withdrew it. They sat in silence for a long time, before Alfred turned back to Ivan with a wide-eyed look of wonder he only got when he wanted to ask a hundred questions all at once but couldn't decide which to settle on first. "What's a bank? I mean, I'm figuring you're not talking about like, a money bank."

Another short nod. "Vampires are a danger to society, da? We are a parasitic species that feeds off of other being's blood, and when we bite we inject the person with a toxin that is unique to each of us… Basically, if vampires were allowed to just go out and bite anyone for food, we would probably just end up killing people left and right. But we have a safety net, in a sense. When we give our first bite, the person we give it to becomes immune to our venom. For instance, mother was father's bank… But since he's rich now he has enough money to make antivenoms for whenever he needs to drink," Ivan explained, trying to keep it simple for Alfred to understand. But he knew his friend's adaptability to new information was simply outstanding, so he pressed on without waiting for any questions Alfred might have asked. "It's called the virginal coating, and it's basically a pre-made antivenom… A first bite is forever, after we give it vampires are not allowed to bite anyone except that person… Therefore, they are our blood bank."

"Oh…" Alfred breathed out a short gasp, everything coming clear in his head as he processed the information, the wind making the shadows from the tree over them dance across Ivan's face and hair. Working his lower lip between the rows of his teeth, he bit down slightly and thought for a minute, dragging the skin slowly between his pearly whites. Ivan heard him swallow, and judging from the nervousness in his frame, he could tell Alfred was about to push the boundary they had set together. "So you… basically don't want to give away your first time to just anybody?"

Ivan hadn't thought of it quite like that, but when he nodded slowly, Alfred's eyes widened just that much more before he slumped against Ivan, curling up at his side. He wasn't really sure why, but Ivan found himself tilting his head onto Alfred's, their hair mingling together as they more-or-less cuddled. Another silence spread between them, but neither really seemed to mind. Except Alfred, but he never handled silence well for very long.

"You said your fangs were damaged?" he asked softly, Ivan stiffening up hard as a rock next to him. Throat drying up like a desert in the middle of summer and hands shaking in his lap, Ivan's eyes flickered back and forth as he tried to think of a good excuse. He wasn't ready to tell Alfred about what happened to him, he wasn't-

"Da."

"Does that mean you can't have a bank?" Alfred pressed onwards, sitting up a little straighter as his eyes focused intensely back on his friend, lingering around his lips. Ivan hadn't thought of that, either.

"I think I can have one… but they won't be completely immune to me, so if I have a poisonous venom, I… I could kill them…" but wait, that wouldn't be right, right? He had overheard Gilbert saying he was making a fortune off of selling his toxin… If it was so popular, surely it couldn't be poisonous then? But he still couldn't say that to Alfred, knowing there would be consequences for sharing something so personally traumatic.

"I see…" his friend murmured softly, expression a little less flighty and frantic. He opened and closed his mouth a few times like a gaping fish, before going back to gnawing on his lower lip again. Unable to meet Alfred's gaze, Ivan took to readjusting his scarf and nibbling the last of the cookies. "Well, don't get discouraged, big guy! You said your dad was rich, yeah? I bet you could have an antivenom made for you too! It'll be okay… I promise."

Somehow the empty words made all the difference to Ivan, and he found himself smiling at Alfred's optimism. He turned to face his friend, the weak little grin small and pleasant on his face. Their eyes met, Ivan blinking slowly as he shifted, drawn in to his friend… When Alfred tilted his head up to meet his, their faces and lips separated by hardly a few inches as the force pulling them together grew stronger, telling them to press closer, closer-

"The bell will ring soon," Alfred breathed suddenly, cutting through the tense moment in that brassy, beautiful voice of his as they just watched each other. Ivan nodded, his forehead almost brushing against Alfred's with how intimate they almost were… Because after that Ivan pulled away and looked everywhere but at Alfred, the ghosting sensation of Alfred's breath over his lips making them tremble with an insatiable yearning.

"Da. Are we meeting at the library again today?" Ivan asked, turning somewhat to Alfred and getting a nice view of his twisting backside when the succubus arched for his own backpack.

"Nah, I think I should go home today. I'll have your book back to you on Monday," he promised, eventually working his way to his feet and missing Ivan's nod of acknowledgement. "Well! Until later then, buddy."

"Da," the vampire replied softly, and as Alfred trotted down the hill, neither could stop imaging about how perfect a kiss they could have shared just now. How natural and amazing and just  _right_  it would be to feel the heat of another's face pressed to theirs, to feel the press and the love and the comfort they would both receive from such an intimate and personal exchange…

* * *

 

Ivan moved down the sidewalk like a cloud of vacant emotions, staring at the pavement and holding onto his backpack straps just to give his hands something to do. The sun was too bright and too hot, and if Ivan hadn't downed at least two bottles worth of water from the fountain before leaving campus he would have been sweating up a storm in the sweltering heat. He never had been very athletic or fit or anything, mostly because his blood simply couldn't support strenuous muscle activity for long.

Kicking a stone along, he gasped when a hand suddenly grabbed the handle on the back of his sack and yanked him down an alley in a sudden rush of motion. Arms flailing, he honestly was a little surprised when his fist landed a good punch across Gilbert's bewildered face.

"Ow, fuck!" the wolf shouted, covering his nose and making a hurt keening noise as Ivan stumbled away from him, eyes wide and heart going into overtime to assist his adrenaline. Just looking at the white head and ears and that obnoxiously mangy tail made him tremble with anger, fangs seething in his throat and demanding to be let loose on the wolf.

Instead Ivan just stood there, gathering himself and being mindful of the wolf's every movement when Gilbert recovered from the initial pain. "That really fucking hurt, bitch," he snarled, Ivan's eyes narrowing dangerously as he held back from attacking. Gilbert dug into his pocket and then threw a wad of cash at Ivan's feet, the stack of crinkled paper held together only with a rubber band. "You're lucky Ludwig is such a pansy righteous dick hole, or I wouldn't be here right now."

Ivan stared at the stack of Mons, the currency authorized for all supernatural species to use and trade with in their cities, amazed at the high numerical marks on most of the pages. He stooped and gathered it up, blinking slowly as he flipped through it. "Satisfied?" Gilbert spat impatiently, fidgeting and shifting from foot to foot as he waited for Ivan's reaction. Sensing something was off, Ivan glared a little more, using a gaze so intense and stereotypical of the parasitics to intimidate the wolf. Eventually Gilbert cracked, tossing out another stack of money about the same size to him.

Catching it, Ivan waited again, still glaring at Gilbert as he clutched the stacks close, waiting to see if- "What? That's all I got for you, bitch. Nearly fucking sold out, too," he grumbled, scowling at the vampire.

"Leave," Ivan hissed dangerously, and Gilbert didn't need to be told twice when he made a threatening move closer. He watched the wolf scramble down the street, clinging close to the buildings as he fled.

When Ivan got home just a few minutes later and counted the money up, he had almost enough to buy a used car and maybe even a few blood packets for a snack afterwards.

 


	10. Closer

"Golden One," Alfred grinned cheekily, handing the book back to Ivan at lunch. The pale vampire smiled shyly and nodded, averting his pretty eyes with an embarrassed and guilty little look. Alfred giggled, beaming with smug joy as he reached out and ruffled Ivan's shaggy platinum hair. "I think you gave me that book for a reason."

"Perhaps," Ivan smiled, stashing  _Anthem_  back in his bag before pulling out his lunch. Golden One… Alfred truly radiated the vibrant color, sparkling in the light and shining like a crown fit for a king. Ivan sighed dreamily, admiring Alfred for a moment before remembering Alfred could hear everything in his head. Judging from his grin, the young demon didn't seem to mind so much. "It's always been a favorite book of mine. I aced the lectures we had on it for English."

"I bet," Alfred purred with that pretty, alluring voice of his, crouching down to Ivan's level. He stared for a moment, grinning and chasing down Ivan's fleety gaze until they finally locked and synced. A wave of pleasant feelings washed over Ivan, a soft melody picked up in the back of his head as he saw himself, Alfred in his arms, swaying and dipping in a dark room… They were…

"Dancing?" Ivan gasped softly, expression screwing up when Alfred glanced away with a rosy blush. His hands felt sweaty as he nervously began fingering the end of his scarf as Alfred flopped into the grass with an excited laugh.

"Yeah! You know, the Halloween Ball is next Friday," Alfred grinned excitedly, pulling out the crumpled poster from his pocket, hurriedly opening it up before passing it over to his friend. "And uh, I was thinking if maybe we should go! Y-you know. Like, as friends."

Breath caught in his lungs, Ivan trembled slightly and averted his eyes before letting himself think about how much he would rather go as something other than friends… Something… more… "Da, that- that sounds like fun! I would love to go with you!"

"We need costumes," Alfred hummed, scootching himself closer before linking arms with Ivan, nuzzling into his side. Judging from the way he fidgeted and prodded his fingers into Ivan's sleeve, his mind was racing with all sorts of ideas. "We gotta be matching, of course!"

"Something original," Ivan smiled softly, gazing up at their tree as they cuddled close and just relaxed. Ivan didn't care about his test next period or how he was falling behind in his homework, he didn't care about how weak his heart was… All he cared about was Alfred, Alfred, Alfred… "Maybe something to do with space?"

"That's it!" Alfred beamed, lurching upright in a burst of energy, almost spazzing out to the point of nearly falling over. Ivan blinked and pulled away slightly to avoid getting hit by Alfred's flailing arms, lips stretching when Alfred latched onto his idea and ran with it. "We'll be astronauts! Wouldn't that be fun?! Like- like- space cowboys!"

Heart fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird, Ivan shifted to face Alfred front-on, cheeks rosy as he pictured the two of them dressed up like- "I could be a Russian astronaut, and you would be yours and-! We could maybe make the suits from cardboard, my father has many old boxes from-" he could hardly finish a coherent sentence, mind racing too fast for his stumbling lips to catch up. Alfred's head bobbed along excitedly to encourage him, mouth flopping along as he spout out idea after idea, waving his hands in the air as if he was already building the costumes right then and there.

They talked and talked, eventually even sketching out previews of what they were going to do in the back of Ivan's planner, excitement buzzing around them. Partway through Ivan's rambling suggestion, the bell rang and shut them up in an instant, echoing slightly in the silence that followed. Smiling guiltily at each other, Alfred stuffed his mostly-untouched lunch into his mouth, packing up… Until Ivan caught his wrist. Swallowing his nervousness, Ivan carefully worked up a coy smile.

"Stay. Let's keep brainstorming," he murmured, voice low and hushed in a devious whisper, eyelids hooded as he smiled at his friend. Alfred blinked like a deer in the headlights, glossy lips parted in a pretty 'Oh' shape as he searched Ivan's face. Eventually he settled back down next to him, chest rising and falling slowly.

"You wanna… you wanna ditch class with me?"

Ivan held his breath nervously, praying for a good reaction.

"That's so  _bad_ ," Alfred chuckled and tilted his head happily to one side, letting his glasses slip down his nose in an exaggeratedly sexy manner. Ivan tilted his head up slightly to match the gaze, tugging Alfred closer. Yeah, one test score wouldn't hurt him… Not more than being separated from Alfred would, anyway. "But we're gunna get caught by campus police if we stay here. Let's relocate?"

[-]

Giggling like the school children they were, Alfred tugged Ivan along to the outskirts of the campus, yanking him into the shadow of the rarely-used sports shed at the edge of the softball field. Ivan blushed and hid behind his scarf, embarrassed and happy and a whole slushy of emotion. He trembled and fidgeted, hiding behind the tall bushes with Alfred close to his side. "I've never skipped class before," he admitted with a soft voice, tongue too thick for his mouth when Alfred smiled back at him.

"Neither have I," he burst into giggles, clapping a hand over his mouth to stifle the awkward noises. They sat against the building wall, staring up over the bushes at the cloudy sky above. "Y-you know, I… I just wanted to tell you that I'm really thankful for… everything."

Ivan perked and shot him a shy look, feeling hot all over from the words and from how close they sat together… How close they had become. Everything just seemed a little brighter when Alfred was next to him. Nothing bothered him as much anymore and for the first time in a long time, he could finally start enjoying himself more. "Me too. I really am glad you are my friend, and that we can do friend things together."

They both couldn't hold each other's gaze after that, the image of them with their faces pressed together and their fingers intertwined fading to the back of their minds. Until Alfred turned and cupped Ivan's cheek, guiding the vampire to look at him. "It's okay," he breathed, blinking slowly at his best and only friend. "If you want to try. J-just a kiss."

"You're sure?" Ivan swallowed, red with a hint of anxiety in the face as his eyes roamed over the contours of Alfred's pretty form. His sharp and pointy little nose, his thick-rimmed glasses that did little to hide those vibrant blue eyes, his golden wheat hair that swooped down and flicked out in messy and unkempt waves… Ivan trembled. "I…"

"Kiss me," Alfred pleaded,  _begged_  for him to, lips trembling with want as he leaned closer. His intensity made every hair on Ivan's body stand up on end, along with a little something else when he melted into Alfred's demand. Neck stretched out to close the distance, he shut his eyes and tentatively landed a kiss on Alfred's lips, his friend holding perfectly still. Ivan carefully worked his lips against his friend's and then started to pull away, surprised when Alfred chased after him and even gave his bottom lip a little nibble.

The next thing he knew, Alfred had him pinned to the wall, lips locked and hands fisted in Ivan's scarf as he wormed his way into Ivan's lap. Ivan didn't protest in the least, letting his hand wander up the back of Alfred's neck to press him closer, puckering his lips and relaxing them in curious little movements. They felt each other up, hands wandering blindly and breath hot on each other's lips as they made out in their secret hiding place.

Ivan eventually let his eyes flicker open, a little surprised to find Alfred had done the same, and he froze up. Alfred was…  _beautiful_. Even when the close proximity made his vision cross and his head fuzzy with heat, Alfred was more beautiful than he had ever seen him before…

But, it was not to last.

The succubus released him and sat back on his haunches, kneeling between Ivan's open legs with a face so hot with embarrassment that neither of them could stomach to break the silence. Suddenly struck by the realization that his throat was just so suddenly  _dry_ … Ivan let his inhibitions fall away, drunk on Alfred's intoxicating kisses, and leaned in. He caught Alfred and held him firmly, the demon jerking into a state of petrified terror as something sharp prodded against his skin. Ivan slowly ran his fangs up and down the length of Alfred's neck, his keen nose able to sniff out the best place to deliver a swift and painless-

" _Stop_ ," Alfred pleaded, trembling violently in Ivan's hold as horror made his previously excited body sweat with anxiety. The word cut through the fog in Ivan's head and he jerked back, eyes wide as he forced his fangs to slide smoothly into their sockets. Alfred tried not to whimper as he scrubbed at his bleary eyes, refusing to let any of his tears free as his friend panicked and curled in on himself.

That had been… really, really,  _really_  close! Ivan shook, his fangs pushing their way forcefully into his mouth again. "I-I need a drink," he gasped in realization and shoved Alfred aside, fingers twitching and shaking as he fumbled with the zippers on his back pack. Everything felt blurry yet impeccably clear at the same time, and in his head he just heard a persistent voice chanting out a solemn mantra.  _Blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, drink, drink, drink_ …

He yanked out his emergency packet of Grade 3 Type O, not the best admittedly but it would have to do, and didn't even take off the drinking nozzle. His sharp fangs punctured the plastic when he bit down hard, the condensed blood squirting slightly around the corners of his lips as he suckled as fast as he could. Gulp after gulp after gulp, struggling to get his body under control. Alfred gripped the collar of his hoodie and held it firmly, shaking as he watched Ivan ravage the little baggie.

There was a long, awkward five minute pause as Ivan drank all of the bag and then sighed heavily, just holding the empty thing in his mouth for a moment. But with a jerk, the tranquility was broken when he ripped it out and started spitting on the ground, a mostly translucent liquid that wasn't quite spit splattering in the dirt. Alfred shuddered fearfully, eventually working up the nerve to speak.

"A-are you okay?" he questioned timidly, leaning in and pressing a comforting hand to Ivan's shoulder as the vampire nodded slowly. Ivan needed a few more moments to clear his mouth before he finally straightened up to speak.

"Da. I… I haven't been so excited before," he shrugged weakly, deftly bunching his knees up so Alfred wouldn't be able to see his rather embarrassing erection. He gulped, shaking as he stared at the venom he had spat out of his mouth. Thankfully he probably didn't swallow more than a few drops… He should be alright... "I didn't mean to graze on you… Will you forgive me?"

"Oh," Alfred gasped, and then completely relaxed, frown melting into a warm and comforting little smile. The succubus smiled, dabbing away the milky spit from Ivan's lip with the hem of his sweatshirt sleeve. "Is that what you were doing? 'Cuz I thought you were gunna bite me and then kill me."

Ivan gasped and pulled away. "What? Why would I want to do that?" he frowned, his mind finishing his sentence for him,  _I need you too much to ever want to hurt you and scare you away from me_. Alfred tilted his head.

"I-I dunno. Because I'm not a good kisser?" he blushed sheepishly, and then fisted his hand back into Ivan's scarf. He tugged the vampire a little closer, eyeing him pointedly from behind his polished lenses with an intense look that demanded Ivan to tell him otherwise.

"I thought we were pretty good," Ivan breathed, head cleared now that his thirst had been mostly satisfied. He caught Alfred's chin in his hand and kissed him once more, slow and smooth, even letting his tongue dip into Alfred's waiting mouth. The metallic taste of blood startled Alfred slightly but he would be lying if he said it didn't feel wonderful to have something move in his mouth. He groaned and kissed Ivan back, letting their tongues swirl around experimentally as he licked up whatever Ivan hadn't swallowed. He got a small taste of something almost acidic, but the blood certainly overpowered it.

"That felt good," Alfred mumbled when he pulled away, blushing softly as he left Ivan breathless and hungry for more. But the vampire only nodded dumbly and made sure to keep his head tucked low. He definitely didn't want Alfred to know about what he thought of just then and there… "But class is going to end soon, and I gotta get home. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Da," Ivan nodded, smiling coyly when Alfred pressed one last kiss to his lips before scurrying away. The vampire waited for a long minute until the coast was clear, and then groaned pathetically when he looked down at the damage Alfred had done to his body. He prayed his father wouldn't be around when he got home.


	11. Reactions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smuttyness woohoo. Basically the two of them masturbating

Grunting in pain, Alfred did his very best not to make much noise as he clambered in through his window, the tree branches leaving scratches along his arms. The heat had gotten to him after he ran home, trembling and flustered and feeling so… Thank God for screened windows that could be opened from the outside!

He tumbled through the frame and bounced for a moment on his old spring mattress, wincing at how much his bed squeaked. Seconds ticked on for what felt like minutes as he listened in for any sign of either of his parents being home… and thank goodness they weren't! Cranking the windows shut again, he wriggled on his sheets for a moment to get comfortable, so glad to be somewhere safe…

He felt like he was burning.

Everywhere Ivan's hands had brushed even for the slightest fraction of a second ached with an insatiable desire for touch, all of the hair on Alfred's body standing on end as if he had been jolted with a shock of electricity. He groaned pitifully as he turned his face into his pillow and arched off of the sheets, hands gripping the blankets to relieve the building tension. He was so hot, so very, very hot…

"F-fuck," he breathed, and whether he was cursing or begging he couldn't really tell, and truthfully he didn't really care. The heat made his head throb and ache, senses on overload as his body writhed in an attempt to seduce his empty bedroom. Tingles shuddered up his spine in waves, making him twitch and spasm every few seconds as his cock demanded attention. How had he even let himself get to this point? Yeah, hanging around Ivan never  _not_  made him horny, but normally he was much better at controlling himself… Or so he liked to believe, anyway.

Cursing his biology for the billionth time that week, Alfred feverishly attempted to get undressed, the scratchy material of his clothing only irritating his sensitive skin. With a sickened shudder he mentally pushed aside the visions flooding his head, refusing to let his mind wonder how nice it'd feel to have Ivan's hands be the one undressing him. To have his hands roaming up and down the length of his body, to have Ivan stop his squirming long enough to trail kisses along the curves of his chest and down to-

Groaning at the imagined sensations, Alfred hurriedly jerked his hands away from where they had started pinching and teasing his nipples, rolling himself over onto his belly. He grabbed his pillow and hugged it hard, curling up around the soft and squishy sack as heat melted away his inhibitions… It wouldn't be too bad, right? Just enough to get off… The shower was so far away, and he knew that even a blast of cold water would do nothing for him at this point. Resigning himself to his fate, Alfred curled up a little bit more before rolling his hips against his pillow, eventually fitting it between his trembling and clenched legs.

 _Oooooh, that feels nice,_ his delirious mind told him as he continued to rock his hips against the soft fabric, creating wonderful friction for his heated flesh. But it wasn't enough. Trembling with a desire for  _more,_ he gripped his pillow and pulled it taut, thrusting shallow little ruts into it as he built up a rhythm. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore, rolling on top of the cushioned sack for a better angle as he humped it repeatedly, anything to relieve the unbearable pressure.

"Not enough," he growled after a moment, flattening himself to the mattress as best he could, hips angled up with the help of his pillow. He could smell himself now, but not even his own disgust could stem his arousal. He wiggled and hurriedly undid his pants, dragging them down along with his boxers until his cock sprang free. The gust of cool air made him tremble and mewl, but still he was left unsatisfied. He continued to rut his now bare cock against his pillow, resting the majority of his weight on his forearms for balance as he moved. The heat flushed through his whole body, heightening every sensation and making every part of him feel warm…

 _Still_ not enough! He took a hold of himself and arched his spine as much as he could, pumping himself as he pretended someone was at his slickened backside. The idea honestly made him cringe with disgust, but even then the disgust only aroused him more. He hated how much he loved the thought of getting fucked by someone, letting someone dominate him and use his body for their own pleasure… All of the guilty emotions he had long ago tried to suffocate and forget consumed his mind in a foggy wave of bliss, and he trembled at the pleasure the fantasies gave him.

"F-fuck me," he moaned weakly into his sheets, rocking his hips back against his imaginary lover, picturing himself stretched wide for them. He could almost hear the slap of their skin against his, could almost feel the weight of someone bent over him, could almost shiver when they breathed into his ear… " _Ivan!_ "

The name tasted so sinfully delicious in his mouth, so naughty and yet so perfect, that he found himself chanting it over and over again, thrusting his hips into his hand and then back onto Ivan's dick. He could hardly breathe and he could hardly control himself as he spasmed, spilling himself into his hand.

His body clenched with the pleasure his orgasm brought him, trembling with so much ecstasy he even felt a little bit of his natural lubricant dribble free from his tight ass… With a gleeful, almost drugged smile, he wondered how much Ivan would mind him getting the sheets so dirty every time they fucked.

He smeared the evidence of his first orgasm into his sheets, the black cum sticky and hot in his hand. He usually needed at least three or more rounds to purge himself of his Pitch, the sterile cum demons were trademarked for. It wouldn't do to have swarms of hellspawn after all, and with how much sex demons were expected to have, they were lucky their biology let them get a few rounds in before having to worry about reproductive issues.

Not that Alfred cared about that, really. He was hard as a rock and as empty as a bag of air, and no matter how much he touched and played with himself, nothing was terribly satisfying for him. Orgasm after orgasm gushed through his body, but it just wasn't...

[-]

"Father?" Ivan's voice echoed through the empty halls, his mansion estate as deserted as he had hoped it would be. The walk home had been even more of a struggle than he could ever want, the sunlight and the heat within him cooking him through to his core. But once he hit the cool interior of his home, new energy coursed within his veins, spurring him to hurry up to his room for guaranteed privacy.

Shedding his backpack and clothing at the door the moment he entered his room, Ivan made a beeline for his coffin, nude except for his socks and underwear which he figured he'd take off in a minute anyway. Lowering himself into his coffin, Ivan carefully slipped a hand down the front of his boxers and groaned, pretending it was Alfred's awkward yet confident hand. With a shudder, he carefully gripped his hardening shaft, gnawing on his lower lip with a weak little noise.

He had promised himself he wouldn't do this anymore… He and Alfred were friends,  _best_  friends at that, and Alfred trusted him and Ivan truly didn't want to be friends with benefits with Alfred, but…

They had  _kissed_. That had to mean something, right? Shivering slightly, Ivan leaned back and looked at his free hand before carefully pressing his pointer and middle finger together. He brought his hand to his lips and pressed his fingers against his waiting mouth, letting his eyes slip shut as he pretended Alfred was truly there, kissing him again and again until his lips were swollen and Alfred's were swollen and-

"Nn-gh," he groaned pitifully, even being bold enough to push his tongue between his fingers, fantasizing that behind the skin was Alfred's hot mouth working against his own, that they were together in Ivan's coffin and… And it didn't matter if the kisses meant anything, because they felt  _good_.  _Wonderful_ , even.

Hand dragging up and down himself, he eventually had to take a small break, feeling dizzy and faint from the heat. Lust boiled through him and made his blood pool in his groin, leaving him woozy and aroused and…

 _Thirsty_. Ivan rolled his head back as he lay down, neck elongated and exposed to the chilly air in his room. He forced himself to pull his hands away from his cock, draping them over the lip of his coffin while he reclaimed his breath. Carefully pulling himself upright into a sitting position again, he waited for the nauseating dizziness to pass before getting up to get his last emergency blood packet, knowing he'd need it in just a minute or two.

Retreating from his backpack, he lowered himself into his coffin and pulled his blanket into his arms, hugging it close before breathing through the comforting cloth. He had had his blanket for years and years, as long as he could remember, even back before… It soothed him, but the memory that  _Alfred_  had sat with him on that blanket made it so much more…

"Alfred," he moaned into it, trembling and hard and… desperate. Fingers stroked up and down his length, and he couldn't stop himself from shivering at the ticklish pleasure and pulsing heat. Tingles trembled up the back of his neck, and he could feel the muscles responsible for sheathing his fangs push until they pricked through their slits, sharp and ready to bite. With a soft sigh he curled his fingers around himself, dizzy and weakened from the arousal.

As one hand pumped, he used the other to stroke over the surface of his fangs, feeling the uneven gashes left in his virginal coating, as if even the enamel on his fangs had been etched into. He felt terrible, remembering the degrading and traumatizing nights in the wolves' basement, remembering his father's wrath, remembering Alfred's fear…

His fangs ached, his heart ached, and his cock pulsed for the attention of another. Groaning with the pleasure, Ivan pumped and worked himself, watching his foreskin drag up and down lewdly with his hand. He felt so... so  _dirty_. For picturing his friend, his  _only_  friend, doing such a thing to him like that, it was just so horrible of him to want Alfred and yet he just couldn't stop himself. He yearned for him. Ached for him. Lost himself in his desires for Alfred, Alfred,  _Alfred_ …

He was close, so close… Trembles wracked up and down his spine as he shook, jaw opening as he prepared himself for release. One hand fumbled off the drinking nozzle on his blood bag, pushing it into his mouth before focusing on his leaking cock, shutting his eyes tightly. He bucked his hips every so often, lying flat on his bed and arching, panting from the exertion of working himself to the brink.

With a guttural noise he finally threw himself off the edge and into the waves of pleasure coursing through him, his fangs biting down hard as he curled up, spilling himself into his hand. He shuddered and groaned lewdly at himself, cheeks hot and flushed slightly as he finally was able to relax. Taking his time uncurling and sagging onto his cushioned bedding, he suckled his pack hungrily, drinking down mouthful after mouthful of the preserved blood. The ecstasy definitely outweighed the foul taste of the lower grade blood, and he could finally relax now that his carnal desires had be sated.

Satisfied and sleepy, he couldn't help himself from holding his hand over his face, blushing at the milky cream between his fingers. He should be ashamed… But it wasn't that bad, right…? He had kissed Alfred. That  _had_  to mean something… So maybe, just maybe it wouldn't be too much of a big deal…

He lay still for a few minutes and let his body completely adjust before he managed to get himself to his feet, feeling weird and almost bloated in a way from having consumed so much blood in barely an hour after not having any for a while. He stumbled over to his desk and cleaned himself up with a few tissues… every so often glancing towards the backpack pocket he kept his phone in.

[-]

"Fuuuuck," Alfred mewled deliriously, eyes rolled back and body twitching from overstimulation. He was so fucking horny he couldn't even think straight, laying face-down in a puddle of his own cum on his bed. Everything felt so nice and warm and  _mmm, maybe one more round…_

He crammed two fingers back into his ass and moaned at how wonderful it felt to satisfy himself, his hand already covered in the slick he'd been producing at an almost alarming rate for the past hour. If it was his own fingers, it didn't really count as losing his virginity, right? Fuck, he was just too horny to care at the moment anyway, his other hand aching from pumping himself for so long. He had given up on any modesty or shame long ago, too consumed with pleasure to bother with such petty emotions.

He curled his fingers and mewled into his pillow as he abused his sensitive inner walls, spasming out another climax when he brushed against his prostate. "Ivaaa _aaahhn!_ " he cried out in ecstasy, muscles twitching as he struggled to lift his ass even higher. He clenched down around his fingers and rode them wildly, even letting his tongue loll out of his mouth from the overwhelming sensations.

Wasn't he finished yet? His mind wandered senselessly as he sagged into the sheets again, drool leaking from the edge of his mouth as he gently touched himself, wiping his cum up into his hand.  _Mmmm, I bet Ivan's cum would be sooo yummyyy!_  His pleasure-high mind wistfully prayed for the opportunity to try it, to get drugged on it, to let Ivan cum all over him and in him and satisfy him thoroughly…!

He gladly licked his hand clean, moaning around the digits as he sucked them dry, giggling at the thought of blowing Ivan's fingers until Ivan couldn't take it anymore and just  _had_  to give Alfred his cock again!  _I'm such a slut_ , he thought with a happy noise, flustered and loving the perverted thoughts, feeling himself want to get aroused just from his own mental dirty talk.

"F-fuck," he gasped suddenly, reality crashing in on him as he recoiled from himself, scrambling until his back hit the wall. He curled up, twitching and splattered all over with his own cum and Pitch, his hole leaking slick and his eyes leaking tears. What the hell had come over him just now? He'd never felt so- so-

_Disgusting. Filthy. Satisfied…_

He sniffled, wiping his hand clean on his soiled sheets before scrubbing at his eyes, ashamed of himself for acting in such a way. To think, he had gotten off a record of  _seven times_ , to the thought of his friend! Sure, he knew Ivan wanted him but… but… That didn't make it okay! He had made it so far! He hadn't given in! He refused to give in! Life had more for him than just sex and a handsome vampire boyfriend that read him books about the stars and sat with him during lunch and cut class just to spend a few more minutes with him… kissed him…

"I'm so fucked," Alfred cursed weakly, having to scoff inwardly at the irony of the comment as he ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the patches of skin where his horns should have been. He wondered briefly if Ivan would still even be his friend if he had been an incubus instead. If they would have kissed if he was an incubus.

Wallowing in his sudden depression and shame, Alfred glanced nervously towards his phone, and then slowly crawled across his bed to it. He picked it up from the table and settled down under his sheets, holding the speed dial button down before pressing the phone to his ear.

"Ivan? Hey, it's me. So, about the costumes…"

 


	12. Dinner

"Ivan."

The young vampire lifted his head, reluctantly pulling his eyes up from the soup he had heated in the microwave about ten minutes prior to his father coming home. They sat across from each other, both at the ends of the long dark wood table centered in the dining room, the atmosphere dark enough to match their souring moods. Ivan swirled his spoon in his soup and ducked his head down to slurp it up quietly, awaiting the scolding and the yelling that would surely follow such a cold address.

Winter sucked in a deep breath, and then let it out in a seething hiss, his lips quirked and pulled into a heavy-set frown. A shudder wracked its way up Ivan's spine, his toes curling in his socks from anxiety. "We need to talk," his father murmured after a moment, crossing his arms sternly with some reserved hesitation.

"Why?" Ivan grumbled back after a suffocating pause like the stubborn child he was at heart, averting his eyes when Winter's mood worsened. Tension so thick it almost choked them both, Winter's chair screeched slightly when he stood, his dress shoes loud and imposing as each foot step echoed in the mostly empty room. Ivan winced visibly when his father's hand clapped onto his shoulder, but he was not at all expecting to see his father drop down to one knee, lowering himself to Ivan's level.

"I received a call from your school today," he started slowly, his nose flaring from what Ivan figured was annoyance at the memory, his bushy eyebrows furrowed seriously. Shifting uncomfortably to get away from Winter's hand, Ivan just shrugged slightly, glancing back at his meal and refusing to acknowledge his father. Winter breathed in slowly again, counting to ten before he felt safe enough to continue. "They told me you skipped class."

Ivan flinched, eyes widening considerably.  _Oh no, oh no…_  He knew exactly where this sort of conversation would take him. Throat closing up from the sudden rush of anxiety, Ivan couldn't stop himself from fisting his hand into his shirt, gripping right over where his fluttering heart beat weakly inside his rib cage. Winter only watched him for a long time, irritated but doing his best to restrain. Maybe he'd let all of his anger out at once?

When Ivan did not respond even after a long pause, Winter just sighed and shook his head. "You don't have anything to say for yourself? Ivan… There have also been rumors about the drug consumption at your school," Winter placed each word delicately in its place as if lining up dominoes, waiting for the trigger that would send the line tumbling down. Ivan's frail body trembled and quivered like a leaf waiting to be blown away by Winter's blizzard of fury.

"S-so?"

"They are saying there is an spike in vampiric toxin found on campus," Winter continued with a halting, hopeful voice, visibly praying his suspicions would not be confirmed. Ivan looked down at his soup before just shutting his eyes completely, his chest aching with unbearable anxiety. Should he fess up? No, no, he couldn't. He couldn't let his father know, not that he'd even believe him if he confessed. Winter watched as Ivan simply shut down, trying to make himself look as small as possible. "I just hope that this recent bout of delinquency doesn't mean anything. Ivan, you… You can talk to me. I am your father, and I will support you to the best of my ability."

Slowly lifting his head, Ivan simply couldn't believe the words he was hearing.  _Lies_. _All lies._ Maybe his father was the one who had been kidnapped, there was no way he would say anything like that, not after everything that had happened and everything that his father had done.

"Now… Is there anything you want to tell me, Ivan?" Winter asked gently, breath so soft the dominoes were still safe, but likely not for long. Still, Ivan had to give him a little bit of credit for at least trying. And, maybe it wouldn't be so bad, trying to open up a new relationship with his father that might be a bit healthier.

Ivan swallowed, shivering one more time as he prepared himself to tell the truth.

"I think I found someone I want to be my bank," he blurted out in a rush, the words awkward and unsure and horribly naïve. Winter stared at him with a startled expression, before his face hardened into a concerned and worried look.

"Ivan, you do realize what sort of commitment a blood bank is, don't you? This is not some decision you make lightly," Winter scolded, making Ivan flinch and withdraw again. Noticing the retreat, Winter tried to smoothe things over again, even trying out a twitchy, unsure smile. "Who is she? How long have you known her?"

"First off, he's a boy," Ivan corrected, and then frowned slightly. Did Alfred really count as male? With his birth defect and all, he was technically a female despite his male anatomy so… Ivan decided to ignore that little bit of information for a few minutes, focusing on the bigger picture. "His name is Alfred, and he is my friend."

"I didn't know you had any friends," Winter stated bluntly, making Ivan scowl unhappily back at him. And then, the most surprising thing happened. Winter let out a soft chuckle, a slightly amused gleam in his cold eyes. "How long have you known this Alfred? What species is he?"

"It's been a little over a month I guess," Ivan shrugged noncommittally, heart throbbing as he thought about their first meeting. How his whole life had been turned on its head the moment he laid eyes on the pretty blond, and how much better it became once he had a true friend to experience things with. Like kissing. Ivan fidgeted. "He's, uh… he's a demon."

Winter deadpanned, and Ivan couldn't bare the judgmental look on his face. He filled the silence with breathy, anxious laughter, giving a little shrug with a what-can-you-do expression on his face. His father scowled, frowning deeply once more. "I want to meet this boy. He's your age? Where did you meet him? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Who are his parents? What are his grades? Does he play any sports? What does he do in his free time? Plans for the future?" Ivan couldn't even keep up with the rapid-fire questions, overwhelmed by his father's overbearing and very sudden interest.

"C-calm down! Alfred's nice, he's not like the other demons," Ivan protested on behalf of his friend, before thinking on the irony of his statement. Alfred was  _literally_ unlike every other demon on the planet. "L-look. Maybe I'll see if… if he would like to come over for dinner. But please, please don't freak out on him… He's my best friend."

Winter nodded slowly, pulling back slightly as he stood up, standing over Ivan and his now cold and forgotten dinner. "I will clear my schedule for the evenings then, so I can come home earlier."

"Oh, that's right, uh," Ivan cut in before his father could return to his seat. He fished in his pocket for a moment, pulling out the crumpled flier Alfred had given him. Winter frowned, leaning in closer with interest. "We wanted to go to the dance coming up… together. I need a permission slip since the school doesn't trust parasites as much as the other kids. And, as you said, with the drug thing…"

Winter plucked the paper up from his hands, skimming it over with a frown as something seemed to click in his head. He stared at Ivan, and then at the sheet, before back at his son. Eventually he nodded, consenting to sign whatever form Ivan gave him. "Very well. But I want to meet this Alfred before I let you go. You're going together, as you said?"

Ivan nodded slowly, his father looking almost uncomfortable before Ivan gasped, realizing what was wrong. "A-as friends! We're going as friends. Just. Friends," Ivan blurted out, the tension in Winter's shoulders easing out with the reassurance. Ivan half-hoped he hadn't lied to his father, and half-hoped he did. The idea of becoming something other than simply friends with Alfred had started to seem more and more exciting ever since they had cut class. Maybe at the dance would a good time for—

Ivan's fangs ached almost as much as his heart did.

Winter nodded firmly and pocketed the flier, simply walking away now that he deemed their conversation over. Ivan gulped down the last of his cold soup and did the dishes, scrubbing away his anxieties as he tried figuring out how to approach Alfred about staying for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this story, please leave me a rating 1(ew)-5(awesomeeee)! It really helps me gauge how much readers are enjoying my work thus far ;u; comments are also greatly appreciated!!!


	13. Mistake

“Mm-mmm…” Alfred moaned softly, eyelids fluttering as they separated from their kiss, his numerous freckles melting into the warm blush heating his cheeks. Ivan shivered slightly, pulling his knees up a little closer to his chest as they sat together under their isolated tree, the two just looking at each other in relative silence. “We… we still gotta do our costumes for the dance.”

“Yeah,” Ivan swallowed the lump in his throat, having pushed this conversation off as long as he possibly could. Hands wringing nervously in the fabric of his scarf, Ivan felt his fangs burn in his mouth as if warning him of the consequences that could come from something like this going wrong. He wished he could just go back to kissing Alfred.

Ever since that first time in the bushes behind the shed, Alfred became a little bolder with snuggling close to Ivan. The vampire couldn’t help but notice the owlish look Alfred got in his eyes when it was obvious he wanted kisses while doing his utmost not to think about his desires, and Ivan sometimes would offer instead to make it a little easier on him.

They were sloppy at first, all tongue and lips and desperation, but they soon figured out something that worked for them both. Just puckered lips pressed together, sometimes Alfred might suck on Ivan’s lower lip and sometimes Ivan would nibble gently with his fangs, but it was all sweet and soft. Sometimes Ivan would even hold Alfred’s hand, and sometimes they would be too embarrassed to look at each other afterwards.

It always started slowly. They’d meet up, exchange greetings and smiles as they settled in, either at the library or under their tree, and they would talk for a little while… And then Alfred would tug on Ivan’s scarf, or Ivan would lay his hand on Alfred’s, and they’d face each other hesitantly. And then like magnets they’d drift towards each other until they collided in the middle, just holding still to avoid any unwanted… tight pants. In the beginning, Alfred couldn’t handle more than a few pecks, stealing little tastes of Ivan’s lips. But gradually their reading sessions turned into make-out sessions, and they walked the very fine line between mildly uncomfortable for bystanders and wildly inappropriate.

But kissing Alfred was like a dream. Every touch they exchanged was like oil added to a fire, burning up every doubt and inhibition in Ivan’s path as he chased furiously after Alfred, the sweet demon always just barely out of his reach. And yet it was this slow, exhilarating build up that made the kisses he did receive all the more special. Alfred would blink slowly to him and then he’d be there, lips to soft lips and eyes gazing at blue eyes.

Ivan couldn’t remember another pleasure that felt as heavenly as Alfred’s lips. He couldn’t remember another place as safe as Alfred’s embrace. He couldn’t remember an emotion as warm and wonderful as the feelings that bubbled in his chest whenever he was around his best friend. He couldn’t imagine a pain more agonizing than being without Alfred.

He had come to realize that nothing in his life seemed to matter as much as Alfred did. He woke up every morning in his coffin and would linger there, smelling the blanket Alfred had wrapped himself up in as if it were possible some of his scent would still cling to the fabric. He found himself daydreaming in class, now that nothing could hold his attention as much as that sweet demon could.

They still did their best not to meet up during school aside from lunch break, the both of them fearing the public backlash they surely would receive if anyone saw them. Even during lunch they would sometimes have to end short if anyone came out close to their little spot. If anyone saw them together, surely it would cause a horrific scandal, but maybe once Alfred met with Ivan’s father… Just maybe, that might change, and maybe Ivan could even walk through the halls with his---

After all, Alfred certainly was respectable and vibrant and always a joy to be around; Ivan truly was amazed that aside from him, Alfred didn’t have any friends of his own. How could someone so wonderful and so curious about the world and so fascinated by the tales of others not have a large following of friends? Was it really only because of his race?

Ivan knew for sure that if Alfred were something other than a succubus, he would definitely have the social skills and popularity to be president of the student council, or something even better, perhaps! But because of the stigma around him, Alfred would have to live a life in the shadows, never given the same opportunities someone else would get.

Just like Ivan.

“So, when do you wanna do it?” Alfred asked, snapping Ivan out of his train of thought with the startling question. Weak heart beating like a drum that reverberated to the point of making Ivan’s body shudder, the vampire stared at his friend in shocked embarrassment, and the image of them kissing and stripping down in a flurry of movement flashed through his mind before he could stop it. Alfred recoiled sharply, covering his mouth and quickly looking away. “I-I mean with our costumes!”

“O-oh, right!” Ivan nodded quickly, flustered and feeling more than a little bit aroused as he struggled to breathe deeply and clear his mind. He fidgeted again, swallowing his anxiety as he cautiously broached the subject at hand. “About that… My… ah… we should make them at my house. I, uhm… You can stay for dinner.”

“Oh, your dad’s working late again?” Alfred blinked, and then nodded thoughtfully, checking the calendar on his phone with a quiet hum. Glancing warily at his friend, Ivan wondered if he should just tell Alfred the whole truth, tell him everything about what had been going on, tell Alfred about Gilbert and Ludwig and Winter and--- “Cool! Alright, then. We should start today, I don’t have anything else planned and we need to hurry or they won’t be done in time for Friday.”

“Ah, oh-- today?” Ivan gasped, not realizing he had such a short amount of time to prepare himself for whatever would come. Oh, _god,_ what if Winter didn’t like Alfred? What if Winter hated his best friend and refused to let them see each other again? What if Winter snarled and hurt Alfred and Alfred started to hate Ivan because of it? What if Alfred decided he didn’t want to be Ivan’s friend anymore because of whatever his father would do--

“Oh, is today bad?” Alfred sulked unhappily, pouting at his friend. Ivan’s eyes widened as he took in Alfred’s expression, his eyes pleading and upset, his lips pulled thin and downwards in an unhappy frown, and his nose even flared slightly. Eyebrows drawn up in worry and his body leaning in, Ivan couldn’t help but be absorbed by him, wetting his lips before kissing Alfred again, thoroughly wrapped around the pretty demon’s thumb as they made out under their tree.

“Nyet, today is fine,” Ivan mumbled when he pulled back, blushing and hiding his face in the wrapped up coils of his scarf, embarrassed when Alfred’s pout morphed into a smile, Alfred catching Ivan’s face in his hands and landing a smooch on his lips for one more intimately friendly exchange.

“Yay! Alright, I’ll meet you outside of the school, okay?”

“Okay…”

 

* * *

 

“Your house is always so dark,” Alfred commented as Ivan let him in, locking the door behind them before slipping out of his shoes. The vampire smiled, having half a mind to say something cheesy before he decided, why not? Surely they were friends enough for him to say some of the things he always had wanted to…

“I do not mind, because you light up any room with your smile,” Ivan beamed innocently, tilting his head to one side as he flirted. Alfred gawked at him in embarrassment, obviously taking a few minutes to process that yes, Ivan had said that aloud and no, he wasn’t dreaming. The succubus stood up straight, opened his mouth, closed it again, and then laughed uproariously, hugging his sides when they started to ache from how much he hooted and hollered. Wincing slightly, Ivan’s smile wavered self-consciously when he couldn’t determine if he was being mocked or not.

“Oh my god, you are _such_ a dork!” Alfred’s brassy voice vibrated from his throat in a musical sort of way, his lips forming each word with care and emotion, and Ivan couldn’t help but swoon with joy to have summoned such a lovely voice with his little comment. The succubus pat his shoulder, and the area warmed as if set on fire, Alfred smirking and grinning up at him. “Doofus. Come on, let’s get started on the costumes! I was thinking more about how we wanted to make them, like maybe we can use some big plastic trash bags to get the same kind of cushioned look!”

“Oh, alright-” Ivan nodded after a moment, once again snapped from his fantasy observations to remember that Alfred was not that of heavenly creation, he was of earthly flesh… Flesh that he was allowed to touch and kiss, flesh that no one else was given so much of a chance to look at with how much clothing Alfred wore on a regular basis. Not that Ivan ever got a lasting look at him. The most Alfred had taken off around him was his baggy sweatshirt, and even then more clothes were packed on underneath. Ivan dropped his bag on the ground and moved to the kitchen, rummaging through their supplies. “I think there are scissors and tape in my room, could you get them?”

“Yeah, sure!” Alfred nodded excitedly, and then sprinted up the stairs as Ivan pulled out the big trash bags, finding white ones and black ones they could use. He smiled softly, shivering with anticipation and anxiety, not sure if he was quite ready to handle this.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, uhm… I guess we should first measure everything and then cut the pieces out?” Alfred started hesitantly enough, running his fingers over the plastic bags, listening in to the plastic as it wrinkled under his touch. Nodding stiffly, Ivan held up a flat, foot-long ruler, the wood straight and unbending.

“Uh, maybe we should… take measurements without our clothes on so they’re more accurate?” Ivan suggested with a nervous gulp, Alfred nodding along… Neither of them moving a centimeter as if their lives depended on it. Ivan stared at his best friend, Alfred staring right back as waited for the other to begin.

At which point Ivan’s mind started to wonder just what was hidden under Alfred’s layers, the succubus recoiling quickly and looking away as Ivan covered his mouth in embarrassment, for the first time in a good long while picturing Alfred naked… Come to think of it, neither had seen the other in less than sweatshirts and pants, and Ivan realized he was a true stranger to Alfred’s body. He’d have to fix that.

“Let’s start with you,” Alfred blurted out quickly before Ivan could suggest the anxious demon go first, the vampire ducking his chin nervously as he blushed. With a gentle mental nudge from Alfred, Ivan pinched the zipper pull on his coat and carefully tugged it down, his sweater peaking through the gap before he let his coat fall to the ground. Alfred held his breath and refused to take another as Ivan gripped the bottom of his shirt, carefully guiding it over his head the way girls do. He stretched, his thin and frail body arching as he stripped for his best friend, his scarf getting caught when he was almost free of the fabric.

“Oh-“ Alfred could barely speak, eyes trained on his best friend when Ivan let his clothes fall to the floor. He wore a belt cinched tightly around his waist, his pants folding in little pockets that showed how poorly they fit him, far too large for such a small, starved waist. There was a tiny dusting of pale hairs that trailed from his belly button into his pants, his body sloping in that bony sort of way. His ribs poked from his chest, each of them easily visible as they stacked one atop the other.

Ivan’s skin was as pale as porcelain, a ghostly white color more fit for a cadaver than a living body, his veins blue and thin under the glassy surface. Alfred blinked slowly, and he swore he could see Ivan’s internal organs if he looked hard enough, absolutely mesmerized by Ivan’s starved body. With a gulp, Alfred couldn’t stop himself from glancing at Ivan’s nipples, blushing at their dusty color and captivated by his protruding collar bone…

He wanted to just grab him in a tight embrace and suckle on his skin until he littered Ivan’s beautiful skin with possessive and telling hickies, wanted to latch onto those nipples until Ivan trembled and moaned for him to suck lower… And Alfred would tease his belly and stroke his fingers down Ivan’s front until they wrestled with that silly belt and---

“Alfred-“ Ivan blushed, the rosy color sweet and embarrassed when Alfred snapped out of his trance, quickly looking away and doing his best not to squirm as the awkward and frustrating tension thickened between them. “L-let’s do the measurements quickly, I get cold without my shirt on…”

“Oh, yeah—“ Alfred nodded hurriedly, taking the ruler with shaking hands as he struggled to think about anything other than more intimate ways he could warm Ivan up… His vampire friend held still for him, patiently standing by as Alfred put the ruler to his shoulder, measuring down his arms and torso, soon able to ditch the lusty fantasies in favor of serious work.

Head bowed down slightly, Ivan watched in mild curiosity as Alfred chewed on his lower lip and took mental note of all of the numbers he started to pile up, humming thoughtfully as he quantified Ivan’s body. His hair bobbed somewhat when he leaned in to line things up perfectly, blue eyes big behind his somewhat dirty glasses. The succubus wrapped his hand around Ivan’s arm, looking almost horrified when he realized he could almost wrap his hand all around his frail bicep.

“You’re… You’re a lot skinnier than you look,” he noted, lifting his head up to Ivan with an owlish blink of innocence, his statement blunt and straight to the point. Ivan laughed a little and nodded, glancing down again at his arm as he flexed in Alfred’s grip, letting the succubus feel the muscles underneath his hand.

“Da. Father says it is because I don’t drink enough blood,” he explained simply enough, giving a little shrug as Alfred experimentally squeezed down, feeling Ivan curiously before loosening his grip. Ivan was like glass to Alfred, and he knew he would have to be gentle, as if any single misstep could shatter Ivan into a thousand pieces. The pale vampire let his friend do as he please for a while before smiling a nervous smile. “But once I get a blood bank, I’ll fill out more, supposedly. Can we hurry now?”

“Oh! Yeah, let me start cutting out some pieces for you,” Alfred agreed quickly and pulled his hand back to his chest, and Ivan shivered slightly at the loss of touch between the two as Alfred sat on the living room floor to get to work.

 

* * *

 

Soon Alfred had the pieces assembled, the plastic easily getting cut up and torn as he worked to put together something from two different black plastic trash bags, Ivan sitting down to helping with what he could. Getting a nod from his best friend to go ahead, Alfred directed Ivan to outstretch his frail arms away from his frail body, watching Ivan intently with two halves to his ‘sleeves’ ready. “Alright, now just hold still,” he instructed, and then lay the top half onto Ivan’s arm, the roll of tape in his mouth as he lined up the pieces. The plastic definitely was not cooperating, clinging to Ivan and crinkling in Alfred’s hands, getting stretched out and more or less ruined as the teenager tried to fit them together.

Being this close to Ivan’s half-naked body was… difficult. Chest clenched and mind awash with lust for his friend, Alfred could barely even breathe, suffocating when he refused to take another breath, not wanting to smell more of Ivan’s sweet scent that was unique to him and only him, one that Alfred had become accustomed to after spending so much time with the kind vamp. Ivan was just so…

Intoxicating.

And Alfred wanted more. The kisses were a good start, but he was having trouble finding reasons to stop kissing, to stop himself from touching Ivan, to stop before they took things too far… He really, really wanted to at least _try_ it with Ivan, maybe even just once… Kiss him and touch him and rub their bodies together, maybe even… do more.

Blushing slightly, Alfred misplaced the little bit of tape he had in his hand, laying it sloppily down on the wrinkly plastic of the cut up bag as Ivan frowned at him. “Are you sure this is going to work?” he sulked, obviously not very satisfied with the succubus’ handiwork. Alfred really ought to stick to science and math, not designing. With a huffy snort, the demon crossed his arms and moved back slightly, eyeing Ivan up.

“Ya’ know… maybe this wasn’t such a great idea,” he eventually admitted with a heavy sigh, shaking his head before holding it in his hands, Ivan watching the blond before trying out a smile. Resting a hand on Alfred’s shoulder, Ivan reached out, lifting up Alfred’s chin as he leaned in. Their eyes locked and held, Ivan slowly letting his eyelids droop as Alfred pouted at him.

“I’m only teasing,” he assured the other teenager, staring right at Alfred to prove to him through that mental synchronization that always made him feel a little… filled. Filled with Alfred’s presence, there, in his mind. Whenever they shared a thought, the emotion quadrupled and grew ever more present, enhanced by the demon’s powers of the mind.

Blinking slowly and letting his pretty blue eyes open up just a little more behind those thick-rimmed glasses, Alfred glanced down at Ivan’s lips, and then up again at his eyes, a silent plea and an understood order. The vampire shut his eyes, relaxing and relinquishing control of his body to the other, letting Alfred move in and do as he pleased. This kiss was not sweet, it was not curious and slow, and it was not at _all_ gentle.

Winding his fingers up into Ivan’s platinum hair, Alfred gripped him firmly and tugged him in close, mouth opened to bite down on Ivan’s lips. The demon sucked them into his mouth to the point it almost hurt, and then let go, mashing their faces together again as he dipped his tongue into the space between them. Lapping at Ivan’s mouth, Alfred opened his eyes slowly as he watched the teen in his grip moan somewhere low in his throat before opening up, accepting the invitation for a new and curious experience.

Grunting, Ivan bent his head down to Alfred’s, making it easier for the smaller teen as one hand stayed fisted in his hair. Another gently caressed down the slope of the back of his neck and across the plain of his back, mapping out his bony and blood-starved body. Soon Ivan had his hands up Alfred’s shirt, his friend gasping in surprise as he was momentarily distracted by Ivan’s cool touch. He pulled back, kneeling in front of Ivan as they sat on the floor, letting his friend lift away his protective layers until they were both bare-chested and breathless.

Ivan’s lips fell open as he stared in wonder at Alfred’s sculpted body. He wasn’t quite as skinny as Ivan was, but it was undeniable he could stand to gain some more weight. Regardless, his skin was supple and smooth, pale yet with a tint of bronze and caramel undertones. The way his body sloped down to his pants was much more womanly and enticing than Ivan’s, not that that was necessarily a bad thing.

But before Ivan could really get a good, long look in, Alfred grabbed him again and kissed him harder, clinging to Ivan as he scooted himself up into his friend’s lap. That devilish body was as hot as a miniature sun, Ivan grunting into the kiss and laying his hands on Alfred’s hips, gripping him and holding him still as Alfred settled his weight comfortably in Ivan’s lap. Heart beating harshly in his chest, Ivan could feel his fangs push free of their sheaths, and Alfred pulled back in a hurry when he felt them on his tongue.

“O-oh,” Alfred blushed, a moment of clarity dawning on him as he realized just what they were doing and just how aroused the both of them were from doing it. Ivan panted and used one hand to cover his mouth to hide his fangs, the other still holding Alfred in his place. Where Ivan _knew_ he belonged… “Ivan…”

“Kiss me,” the vampire growled, but his voice shivered and pleaded with the demon, begging for more attention. The demon within Alfred screamed to be unleashed upon Ivan and ravish him and be ravished by him, but the more cautious half blared warning bells in his ears, telling Alfred that this was a mistake and that if he didn’t stop now, nothing would ever be the same between them again-

But… what was wrong with that? So what if things weren’t the same? Did Alfred even want things to be the same…?

“I…-“ he started and then gave in, shoving Ivan to the ground as he lay himself atop his bony body, senses on overdrive as instinct took over. Blue eyes wide and with a hint of devilish red to them, Alfred stole kisses as he slid his hand between them, rubbing it into Ivan’s groin and moaning softly as Ivan arched and gladly accepted his touches.

Everything burned around him, the fire too hot to be contained any longer. Ivan stroked down Alfred’s neck as Alfred stimulated his nether regions, but Ivan’s lust-crazed mind didn’t even care, focused on something else entirely. Focused on Alfred’s neck, focused on the pulse beneath his skin and intent on planting a firm bite right there.

He dodged Alfred’s next flurry of kisses, lifting his head into the crook of Alfred’s neck, mouth open wide as he let his fangs drag across Alfred’s skin. The anticipation for the first fulfilling bite of his life was almost too much, but he had to find the best place, with the most blood… He grazed up and down Alfred’s neck one last time before settling on an area, his fangs prodding against Alfred’s skin as bit down—

Or started to anyway, only to hear the front door open.

“Ivan? I’m home, I brought some take out from-“ Winter started to say as he entered his house, turning to his left and catching his shirtless son and an equally shirtless stranger sprawled out on the floor, the two teenagers scrambling away from each other in an instant. The old vampire just stared in disbelief as Ivan squeaked and floundered, yanking his coat over himself to hide from his father’s cold gaze, Alfred already tugging his sweatshirt back on in a panic.

“F-father!” Ivan laughed weakly in horrified mortification, cheeks flushed and fangs out, a damp spot wetting the cloth that bulged from his groin. His father slowly looked between the two of them, carefully shutting the front door behind him, the two teenagers scrambling to their feet in embarrassment, putting their clothes back on and clinging close to each other as they waited for what would come as punishment to them both. How could they have fucked up this first meeting so badly?! “I can explain-“

“Let me put the food in the kitchen,” Winter stated flatly and coldly, turning on his heel and disappearing into the house, Alfred flinching and gripping Ivan’s arms like a terrified child. Ivan gulped and loosened his scarf, already choking as his mind raced with all of the horrible outcomes coming true right before his eyes.

“That’s… your dad?” Alfred whispered nervously, trembling and quivering as Ivan nodded slowly, the both of them thoroughly shaken up after being spooked so suddenly.

“Da,” Ivan was able to reply before Winter returned, the two teenagers just staring up at the tall man as Winter regarded the arts and crafts mess on his floor, moving past them to sit on one of the couches. He gestured to them both with a wave, motioning to the couch across from his own.

“Sit. I think it is time we had a chat. Ivan, is this your friend Alfred?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me a rating one (bad) to five (great!) if you liked this! I really love getting feedback from my readers. Let me know how I'm doing!


	14. (Un)Lucky

“I’m sure you can understand that I’m in a bit of a predicament here,” Winter started slowly, picking and choosing his words carefully as his son and his son’s friend sat on the opposing couch. The tension made it hard to think for Ivan, not that his father was really addressing him to begin with. Alfred nodded slowly, that adorable little curl that sprout up from the top of his head bobbing along with the movement.

“It’d look bad if your son was with Hell spawn like me,” Alfred filled in for him, his voice quiet and soothing, that sweet tone that surely could lure many a man or woman into his arms and his bed. Winter gave him a curt nod in return, and Ivan’s heart clenched in pain when his best friend hunched in on himself, shuddering somewhat.

“Now, that isn’t to say I don’t think you and Ivan could be very good friends,” Ivan’s father continued, the old vampire lacing his fingers together before he leaned in, elbows on his knees and chin resting on his hands. Eyeing the two closely, he took a few pauses before he was able to fully continue. “What I mean is, it would be more problematic if I were to be seeing you. The good thing is, I have no intention whatsoever.”

“Yes, I know,” Alfred murmured, and Ivan could tell that he meant it. Being able to more or less read minds certainly had its upsides. Winter grunted somewhat and then stood up, Ivan subtly sliding his hand onto Alfred’s thigh, finding his hand and holding it tightly.

Winter turned away from them, feet shoulder width apart and back straight as a broom, his hands clasped behind him in a very military-esque pose of attention. The pounding in Ivan’s ears only beat faster and faster as his father couldn’t even face his embarrassment of a son, and that realization hurt Ivan more than anything else could have, at this point. “Ivan…” and now it was his turn to face Winter’s true wrath, for he must have been saving it all for him given how little anger he had shown towards Alfred. “It is none of my business who you involve yourself with, so long as you are staying out of trouble. I know this… Alfred must mean a good deal to you, so I… hope it continues to stay that way.”

“Father,” the word was incredibly difficult to say, just as this entire conversation was incredibly difficult to believe. Alfred squeezed his hand, and the action comforted Ivan enough for the teenaged vampire to let out the breath he barely even knew he was holding. He had to say something! This was just… unreal. “Thank you…”

Winter held up his hand to cut him off, Ivan instantly shutting his mouth as his father looked over his shoulder at him, those eyes piercing and hard to read. “Now. As for whatever it was I just walked in on,” he continued, swiveling around to face his son again. The teens flinched, Ivan’s pale knuckles even whiter from how tightly he held on to his best friend, fearing that if his grip lessened, his precious Alfred would disappear in an instant. “I want nothing to do with that. You’re teenagers, you’re young, I respect that. Just... don’t be stupid. I know you are both smart enough to not cause any problems so just… keep that to yourselves.”

“Thank you, sir,” Alfred blushed darkly, his eyes wide behind the glasses that rested on his hot cheeks. Ivan quickly glanced at Alfred, their minds syncing when they made eye contact. Ivan’s heart throbbed in his chest as that now-familiar burning sensation in his belly made him shudder with anticipation, Alfred having a similar reaction as his eyes kept flicking down at Ivan’s lips where his fangs jut out of his mouth.

Shifting uneasily as the two teens looked ready to pounce on each other and pick up where they left off, Winter coughed into his face and got a little more serious. “And, what on earth were you both doing? Why are there trash bags all over the floor?” he scowled, Ivan blushing hotly as he tried to describe their childish idea.

“We were, uhm… Making our costumes for the dance,” he explained, the plan sounding absolutely ridiculous as his father just frowned at the mess on the floor. Alfred laughed weakly, the atmosphere still incredibly awkward for them both. The young demon couldn’t sit still any longer, his anxiety reaching its boiling point as he lurched up from the couch, trying to hide the ruined bags as quickly as he could.

“We wanted to go as astronauts, but we didn’t really think that through, uhm…”

“If you wanted a costume to wear, you could have just asked me, Ivan,” the old man sighed, reaching back before fishing out his wallet. To both of their amazement, Winter counted out five bills worth twenty Mons each, passing them over to his shocked son. Ivan dumbly accepted the money, staring at it as Alfred’s jaw lung loose in a startled ‘O’ shape. “That should cover it, shouldn’t it?”

“Y-yes!” Ivan gasped and nodded quickly, holding the money close to his chest as if he were afraid his father would change his mind and swipe it away from him. The old vampire simply smiled somewhat, and Ivan resisted the urge to pinch himself awake from this dream.

“Come on then, dinner is getting cold,” Winter huffed, and the two boys quickly bounding after him into the kitchen, all nervous yet definitely relieved smiles when they glanced at each other again. They had to be the luckiest teens alive!

 

* * *

 

 

“So, Alfred,” Winter started off pleasantly enough, the young demon perking up at the sound of his name. Sitting at the Braginsky family’s dining table certainly made his anxiety bubble in his chest, Alfred seated just to Ivan’s left while the two vampires occupied the ends of the rectangular table. Ivan twitched somewhat, some of his pasta falling off of his fork when he froze up. “Tell me about yourself.”

The succubus nervously looked to Ivan for support, his best friend just giving him a weak shrug as he set his fork down to his plate again, neither really knowing what to say or even where to begin. “Uh, what do you want to know?” Alfred hesitantly countered, turning to look at Ivan’s father. The old vampire shrugged off the comment, dabbing at his beard with his cloth napkin when some sauce didn’t quite make it into his mouth.

“I suppose a good way to start is for you to tell me more about your… species.”

Ivan’s heart stopped, for he just _knew_ this conversation was one that was going to happen regardless of how well their first meeting could have gone. Submitting himself to his fate, Alfred fidgeted somewhat and dropped his gaze to his food, eyes scanning back and forth as he struggled to find the right words. “Well, I’m a succubus, pretty standard for most demons…”

“But you identify as male? Are you transgender?” Winter continued bluntly, not at all phased by the statement and his following question as Alfred instantly sputtered in embarrassment. Ivan glanced at his friend, his weak heart barely able to handle all of this confrontation and touchy subjects. Alfred quickly shook his head, looking up at Winter like a startled and frightened deer.

“No, I’m not trans, I’m… I was born male,” he clarified, and Ivan hated the way Alfred’s voice trembled as much as his hands did, the young demon terrified of his father. The old vampire certainly seemed interested in learning more about his son’s friend, but didn’t quite seem able to converse like most normal parents would, always beating around the bush and prying secrets from their children’s clenched hands. No, Winter simply dove headfirst and without any inkling of hesitation, getting right to business and truth like any good politician should. “Well, I mean… it’s hard to explain. The way papa got pregnant with me and Mattie wasn’t normal at all, and the doctors say it was because of the freak pregnancy that I came out like… this.”

“The doctors were the ones to classify you as a female demon despite your male body?” Winter continued, trying to wrap his head around the confusing topic as Alfred struggled to find the best way to explain it to him. With a slow nod, Alfred licked his lips and thought for a moment, doing his best not to get shaken up over the topic. It had never been easy for him to handle discussions about his deformity, or rather lack-there-of, and it was especially difficult now considering he truly wanted to leave a good impression on Ivan’s father.

“Yeah. I mean, I’ve got, uhm… male parts, but they react the way a woman’s would, if you, uhm… know what that means,” Alfred blushed hotly, unable to maintain eye contact after admitting that one embarrassingly cruel detail about his anatomy. Winter nodded calmly, just shrugging aside the awkwardness as he continued to eat, the boys slowly following suit as that thick tension gathered again.

The silence proved hard to beat, Ivan and Alfred sharing minimal glances as they finished their meal, getting through it quickly since Winter had only bought enough for two, having not expected any visitors. Those icy blue eyes stared them down, and Ivan weakly glanced up at his father, hesitant to even do so much as look at him.

Clearing his throat to try clearing the air as well, Winter pressed on through the topics he wanted to discuss with his son and Alfred. “I also hope you understand everything there is to know about this sort of arrangement as well,” Winter hummed, and the boys frowned at him in confusion, not quite understand what he meant. At the following silence, Winter glanced between them again, his lips pulled downwards in a small scowl. “Being a blood bank is a very serious commitment. You have to be prepared to spend your lifetime with your bank. What if you were to stop being friends, or one of you moves away? It is a very serious issue and I hope you truly comprehend just how important this is.”

Ivan gasped and groaned, cheeks heating up before he quickly hid his face in his hands, Alfred frowning as he looked between the two vampires. “Uhm, yeah? Ivan said banks were pretty important, and that you wanted to help him find one. I didn’t know you were already looking at candidates?” he tilted his head in confusion, his sentences choppy and broken as he stared at Ivan, his friend unable to meet his gaze as Winter looked equally confused.

“What, you haven’t told him yet?” Winter asked a little bit too late, Ivan letting out a strained whimper as Alfred sucked in a breath and stared at him with a shocked and mildly horrified look. Sure, sometimes when they were kissing and touching he had let Ivan do that thing with his fangs where he ran them along his neck, but that had to have been because of the pleasure, right? Ivan didn’t actually want to drink his blood, did he?

Although, the more he thought about it, the more his brain told him how exciting and thrilling that would be to experience. But then again, Ivan had said his fangs were damaged, so…

It seemed there was quite a lot Ivan wasn’t telling to both him and his father.

Ivan slowly lowered his hands, absolutely mortified at this turn of events when he glanced apologetically at Alfred, unable to even speak to his friend. “I… I was going to ask you later, m-maybe at the dance,” he stumbled over his words, hoping he didn’t sound too much like a stupid fool as his father stood up from the table, gathering up the dishes.

“Ivan, that’s…” Alfred couldn’t find the words to say, just doing his best to think logically and rationally when all he could do was picture himself laid out in Ivan’s coffin bed, moaning and arching up into his boyfriend as Ivan suckled from his neck like a baby to his mother’s breast, the idea somehow incredibly erotic to him. _Wait, no, stop that, we’re just friends,_ he chastised himself and quickly shook his head, holding his breath as he shakily got to his feet. “I should go home. I-I’m sorry.”

Ivan choked back a horrified gasp before lurching out of his seat after him, trying to stop him as Alfred rushed to get his backpack, Winter deftly moving out of their way. “W-wait, I’m sorry! Please, can’t we talk about this?”

“There isn’t anything to talk about, it’s just getting late and I think Papa must be worried about me now,” Alfred refused him coldly, rejecting every one of Ivan’s attempts at pleading with him, slapping aside his hands as Ivan desperately tried to cling to him.

“Alfred, please don’t just go-“

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” the other teen snapped sharply at him, his stance firm and unmoving as he stared at his best and only friend, Ivan wincing away from him like a chastised dog who didn’t understand what he did wrong. Alfred eyed him down before relaxing somewhat, sighing heavily. “I have a lot of thinking to do, so I just… Just give me some space. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Oh… I… okay,” Ivan murmured, just watching as Alfred gathered his belongings and left, the door slamming shut like a hammer nailing a coffin closed. Perhaps his luck with Alfred had run out the door with him...


	15. Symbiosis

"Alfred!" Francis called out, his voice a mixture of relief and prolonged anxiety. The young demon didn't have the heart to look at his parent, just kicking his shoes off and trembling slightly as he tried to push past him and up the stairs. "Where on Earth have you been?"

"Leave me alone," he scowled, and those incessant tingles raced along his spine once more as he continued to shiver uncontrollably. Noting Alfred's shaken up demeanor, Francis naturally ignored the grumbled order and pursued him up to his room.

"You've been coming home later and later these days, mon petit," Francis stated the facts softly, catching hold of Alfred's balled up fist with his gentle and just barely wrinkled hand. "And I know you haven't been out for sex."

"What's it matter?!" Alfred spat back and him and yanked his hand away, storming down the hall even as Francis persisted behind him, Arthur no longer in his way as he confronted his worrisome child.

"It matters because you matter!" Francis defended himself, knowing that those words carried a large amount of weight with his son. Alfred hesitated in his doorway, fingers twitching somewhat on the painted-white wood of his door as the teenager paused. Francis' expression softened for him, and he gently laid his hand on Alfred's shoulder. "And it matters because I care about you. I'm your Papa, mon petit chou! You can talk to me about these things. You know I'm very open, I can assure you if you're embarrassed by something, I wouldn't judge."

"Papa…" the word felt strange in Alfred's mouth when he repeated what his father said, Francis smiling warmly before embracing him in a tight hug. They held still for a minute or two before Francis pulled back, slowly moving into Alfred's messy room.

"And I promise I won't tell your father. Come and sit with me, Alfred. Let's talk about this."

* * *

The seconds ticked by in agonized silence, Francis and Alfred just sitting on the teenager's bed as Alfred stared down at his twiddling thumbs, shoulders hunched in on himself. Eventually Francis broke the tense moment with a soft sigh, just brushing his fingers through Alfred's hair as he tugged him into a one-armed hug. "Tell me what is troubling you."

"Papa…" Alfred murmured, keeping his head bowed low and nuzzled into Francis' chest, listening to his father's steady and moderate heart beat as he tried to figure out just how to even approach the subject. "How can you do it, Papa? How can you let them just… use you like that?"

"You mean in sex?" Francis finished the thought with a gentle hum, his fingers just stroking through Alfred's hair, reminding the teenager of what he was missing. Eventually Francis just shrugged, trying to be encouraging. "I don't see myself as being used, mon petit. Rather, I am always the one in control."

"But—You just let anyone do it! Do those…  _things_  with you. Aren't you ashamed? How can you just let them invade your body and your personal space like that?" Alfred continued in a rushed breath, eyes wide with fear and horror as just the few sentences brought with them that traumatic scene Alfred had seen play out thousands of times before. Francis' smile strained somewhat.

"Now, now. I hardly think it's fair for you to compare yourself to me… Yes, I suppose my kind of work can seem a little bit… problematic. But that was the arrangement your father and I decided on," Francis continued slowly, trying to make it as plain and simple as he could. "You know your father. I wouldn't last a week with his prudish ways! But that's just me. I still love him. The part of me that is me and not my demon loves him and loves you and loves Mathieu more than anything else in the world, and you know I'd do everything I could to satisfy all of your needs. Yes, see, Alfred… that's how our kind works in this society. We have our self, and then we have our demon, and both of them have needs that need satisfying."

Alfred listened to him silently, trying to take in what his father was trying to convey. It took Francis a few minutes to continue, or maybe he was just waiting to see if Alfred had any input to add to the conversation. "Now, my arrangement works well with your father. Maybe it isn't for you? And that is alright."

"But… I don't want to have to jump partners all the time. I don't want just anybody who comes knocking!"

"I know. And you don't have to do things how I do them," Francis encouraged him softly, pulling back slightly so he could catch Alfred's eye. "You are very proud, mon petit. Very, very proud, and you are stubborn. People like that in a lover."

"But I don't want to be someone's lover. I don't want to be someone's affair on the side. I don't want that kind of lifestyle, papa. I don't want to be… used."

"Oh, Alfred… what has happened to you?" Francis murmured, cupping his face with a loving and tender hand, turning Alfred's cheek to face him better. His son blinked up at him with those alluring and lovely blue eyes that anyone would swoon over, and Francis couldn't help the proud smile they brought to his face. But even his pride couldn't outweigh his concern. "Who has hurt you so…?"

A rush of faces blurred through Alfred's mind, everyone who had ever spoken to him, everyone who had ever shyly tried to give him presents or cockily tried making a move on him, everyone and all of their fantasies sped through his mental vision. And then finally it settled on Ivan, sweet, wonderful, kind Ivan…

Breath caught in his throat, Alfred's chest seized up as his heart beat faster and faster, color dusting his cheeks as that warm feeling spread through him again.

Ivan.

He wanted him so desperately, wanted him more than he had ever wanted anything before. More than knowledge, more than dignity… If he could just have sweet Ivan all to himself… No, did he really want him like that, though? Or was it just the demon? He had to have a clear head, he had to have his wits about him, had to resist…

"Papa, there's… There's this… guy," Alfred started softly, head bowed low as Francis instantaneously perked up. His father leaned in intently, eager to hear more about this sudden and startling development.

"Oh, Alfred—this is the first time you've mentioned something like this," he breathed, and his voice was aflutter with excitement and eagerness to hear all of the juicy details. Alfred blushed darker, just  _knowing_  Francis had already gotten the wrong idea.

"Yeah… He… He's really nice. Like, super nice. He's been helping me study after school and stuff," the teenager continued carefully, heart beating faster as he thought of Ivan's lulling voice and subtle accent, of his kind smile when they both had to look words up in the dictionary or when they exchanged books… Francis was almost vibrating at this point, lower lip tucked into his mouth as he struggled to contain himself. Alfred gulped, getting to the difficult part. "But just earlier, actually… I found out he just… he only wanted to get close to me so he could use me."

His father gasped softly, not expecting that at all. He held his tongue though, and Alfred shuddered as his anxiety returned tenfold. Jerking away from his father, he hugged himself tightly, refusing to touch him at all. "I just… it really hurt! I thought he actually cared about me! I thought he might have even  _liked_  me!"

Francis made a soft clucking noise with his teeth, cooing to him as he gently drew him back into his arms, even as Alfred tried to struggle out of his hold. Francis held him firmly and stubbornly, wrapping him up in his protective arms. "Mon petit… Do you like this boy?"

"What? Yeah, I mean… I like him a lot, maybe more than I should…"

"Then, if he is going to use you, why don't you use him?"

The suggestion both horrified and shocked Alfred, the young demon simply unable to believe his ears as he slowly looked up at his father. The betrayal on his face was dazzling, that peaked curiously making those pretty blue eyes widen despite Alfred's best intentions. Francis chuckled and brushed Alfred's hair out of his eyes, lingering on the patches above his ears where his horns should have been.

"How can you say that—?"

"Think about it, Alfred," Francis smiled sweetly and earnestly, meaning every single word he said. Flashes of Ivan's blushing face, his heaving and scrawny body laid out on a bed, his fangs sharp and pointed and eager for a bite… Alfred shivered somewhat, relishing in the fantasies instead of pushing them away again. "Now, perhaps my wording hadn't quite been the best. What I mean is, you can make a… ah, what is the word…"

"Symbiotic relationship," Alfred filled in for him in a breathy gasp, blinking curiously as he entertained the idea and all of its implications. Francis snapped his fingers and nodded, smiling widely before continuing.

"You each take what you want, your needs are satisfied, his needs are satisfied, and it sounds like you are pretty good friends, non? I'm sure he would give you anything you'd like if you were to just ask him."

"But papa…" Alfred protested, despite how much the idea made sense in his head. Except, while he would presumably get sex from the relationship, Ivan would have to…

Was becoming a blood bank really worth it? To just waste his days away getting continually drained by his partner, no—his friend… And what about Ivan's fangs? Weren't they damaged anyway? What if Ivan actually really hurt Alfred? Or even if it didn't hurt and Alfred was okay, what would happen when they would have to go to college? Or even just a vacation? There's no way they would be able to stay together for the rest of their lives!

But the more he thought on it, the more he realized that yes, that's what he wanted. He wanted someone who would love him, someone who would enjoy spending time with him, someone who would be willing to spend the rest of their life with him…

It was then Alfred truly understand just what a blood bank was to a vampire. Ivan had practically asked Alfred for his hand in marriage! Ivan had asked for the devotion required to spend an eternity with him, and Alfred had run out the door—

Shrinking in on himself, Alfred covered his mouth with his hand in an attempt to hide his blush, his eyes flitting about as thoughts and fantasies raced through his head. Francis smiled at him and gave him a pat on the back before he stood up.

"Just think about it, mon petit," he chuckled and gave Alfred a little wink before disappearing through the door, leaving Alfred to hastily strip and spend the next hour or so moaning into his pillows as thoughts of Ivan dominated his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! If you like what I'm doing and where this is going, let me know! Or even just leave a rating 1(ew)-5(aw ye) would be much appreciated!


	16. Entropy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait!

 

Hugging his pillow close to his chest, Alfred quietly stared at his phone, his heart thumping loudly in his ears. His body still trembled with the last quivering waves of pleasure, and his hands felt sticky and sweaty and awkward as he gently thumbed in his phone password and then tapped the texting icon. The application bloomed open on his screen, the brightness straining his eyes and making him squint uncomfortably at the small electronic text.

He knew he had to at least  _try_  making things right with Ivan again, maybe if they just talked it out Ivan would realize it was just a misunderstanding… A big, terrible, awful but still hopefully fixable misunderstanding. He was not at all ready to see that he already had an unread message in his inbox from Ivan, a sense of impending doom settling on top of him as he slowly tapped opened the little message.

_I'm sorry I upset you._

Alfred blinked at it, full of guilt and shame that twisted in his gut and in his heart and weighed heavily down on his shoulders. "No, Ivan,  _I_  was the one that hurt  _you_ …" Alfred murmured quietly to himself, the realization hard for him to swallow. All he could picture was Ivan's pale face streaked with salty tears at having been rejected, and he couldn't even stomach imaging what must have went through his best friend's head. Gulping, he quickly typed out a hurried reply.

_I'm not upset, it was just really sudden…_

What else could he even say? He wasn't sure of anything anymore! Ivan must hate him, he  _must_  after what Alfred did to him…

Every second that passed without a reply from Ivan gnawed away at him like the most painful tormenting Alfred could barely handle, the world closing in around him as he felt himself shut down. He fucked up. He had really,  _really_  fucked this up. There was no going back now, he either would have to fix this or lose his lov-

Gasping, Alfred covered his mouth and screwed his eyes shut, his head fuzzy and strained and… He just couldn't take this anymore! What the hell was he supposed to do? Did he even love Ivan like  _that_? The more and more he thought about how much he wanted to make things right with Ivan, the more he just wanted to never leave his room and forget he ever existed! Ivan…

Ivan deserved better than him anyway…

Smart and thrifty and sweet-hearted, Ivan was just too good for him. He deserved someone who served him and worshipped him like a God, someone who could hold intellectual conversations with him and entertain him and satisfy his needs without question or  _hesitation_  and-

"Fuck!" Alfred struggled to shout, his own voice just making his head hurt even more as he tried to hold back the pricking tears stinging the corners of his eyes, his lower lip trembling under his gnawing teeth to hold back any more outbursts. He was so fucking stupid! And now it has cost him Ivan-!

_Are you sure? I'm really, really sorry… I wanted to tell you when I was ready. I know it's a really big thing so I wanted it to be perfect… I'm so sorry. I'd understand if you didn't want to hang out anymore…_

Alfred stared in disbelief at the strange words. What? Did Ivan even know what he was saying? Of course he wanted to keep hanging out! He thought for sure Ivan was going to be the one that didn't want to hang out with Alfred anymore! Heart thumping faster and faster, Alfred simply couldn't pull his eyes away from the saddening words on his screen, numbly thumbing in his reply.

_I still want to hang out. I'm sorry, but-_

No, he couldn't send  _that_. It was too cold, too unfamiliar. This was for  _Ivan_. With a groan he quickly erased everything he had written and tried again, fingers tripping their way across his touch screen, his phone trembling in his hands as he struggled to communicate intelligently. He had to play this right, had to put each word carefully into its place. He couldn't fuck this up any more than he already had…

_I love hanging out with you! I don't ever want to stop hanging out with you!_

"Maybe that sounds a little too desperate," Alfred lamented to himself with a groan, erasing his message again before tossing his phone to the bottom of his bed, rolling onto his belly to stuff his face into his pillow. Maybe if he just lay perfectly still he could suffocate himself and not even have to deal with trying to fix the mess he had caused…

With a groan he eventually retrieved his phone and clutched it close to his chest, willing the words to his fingers and willing his heart to make up its mind. Maybe he loved Ivan, maybe he didn't. Maybe he wanted Ivan sexually and maybe it was just all in his head. Maybe they were young and confused and driven by impulses and maybe… maybe, just maybe they weren't. Maybe if they got together they'd realize they weren't meant to be after all. Maybe if they got together, they'd realize that being together was the greatest thing that ever happened to them.

_I love you._

"I love him," Alfred breathed, just to try the words on his tongue. They tingled and slowly melted in his mouth like warm chocolate with soft cream, sweet and succulent that had him puckering for another taste. He held himself firmly, shivering as he tried the words out again. "I… love him...?"

The sweetness started to fade into the back of his mouth, his tongue swishing the words around uncomfortably. It just didn't sit right! Something just felt… wrong. His body screamed at him that yes, yes, Ivan was all he wanted and needed and he ought to have laid with him weeks ago but his head knew better. It just wasn't right.

He erased the three little words on his screen before taking a deep, cleansing breath, holding the air as long as he could to make sure every last impulse had been suffocated. Steeling himself and preparing for the best and the worst at the same time, Alfred finally worked up the courage to send a reply, letting his heart work it out with his head so he wouldn't fuck his friendship up any worse.

_Ivan, I should tell you something too. I think I want you but I'm just not sure if it's me or my demon talking. You're my best friend and I really really cherish you, I don't want to change anything between us._

Slowly opening his eyes, trembly lower lip aching when he bit down on it, Alfred hit send and gulped uncomfortably, choking on his own words. "Please,  _please_  don't let me regret this," he prayed desperately, setting his phone down next to his pillow before curling up again.

He didn't even notice the tear that dripped from his eye.

_Nothing will change. You're my best friend. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't sit in the library with you and learn things with you, I don't want to be with out you. Reading about space with you let me figure out that you've opened the universe to me_

"Heh, what a dork," Alfred couldn't help but sniffle, smiling softly at the sweet response. Really, Ivan was just too much. Regardless, Alfred couldn't help but feel at least a little bit comforted by Ivan's words. With a grin, he hurriedly typed out a response.

_Thank you, that really means so much to me 3 -hug-_

_^J^ Ah, hopefully that didn't sound too cheesy?_

_Nah, it was just perfect. Thanks so much!_

Alfred giggled, feeling content for the first time in a long time, his stress lifted from his shoulders and his heart beating a little easier. Ivan didn't reply for a little bit but Alfred certainly flinched in surprise when his phone started ringing in earnest, a not-very flattering but still cute picture of Ivan lighting up on his screen to indicate his best friend was calling. Nearly dropping his phone with buttered fingers, Alfred scrambled for the answer button before it rang on through to his voicemail box.

"U-uh, hello?"

"Sorry, I just wanted to hear your voice," Ivan apologized quickly, the words blurted out so fast Alfred took a few moments to process what he heard before letting out a breathy, flustered little laugh. In the silent space that followed, Alfred could distinctly make out the sound of Ivan's irregular breathing, as if he was struggling to say something he figured he shouldn't.

"Oh, that's okay-"

"Do you really want me?" Ivan whispered into his phone, the last few words so strained and choked up that Alfred couldn't help but get a little nervous after hearing them. He gulped and held his tongue for a long moment, perhaps too long, but for whatever reason Ivan still remained on the line. Breath seizing in his chest, Alfred slowly opened his mouth.

"Yes," he murmured softly, bowing his head as he started fidgeting with his toe, tugging and picking at a loose nail as a way to relieve his building anxiety. His cheeks heated and his palms got even sweatier, and he wondered if Ivan could hear him gulp. "I do. I have for a while now. And I know you want me, too. Don't deny it, I know you. But, Ivan…"

"Yes…?"

"I don't want this to change, I don't want to lose what we have…" Alfred whimpered, struggling to voice how he really felt. Ivan hummed softly in agreement, and the little noise was just enough to spur Alfred on further. He babbled uncontrollably, the emotions just bubbling over as he spilled his guts to his friend. "You make me feel so many things I've never felt before and I don't want to risk losing them all because of something like us d-doing the do and I just, I- you're the only friend I have! If I lose you, I'll have nothing again and I just- I don't think I can h-handle that, and-"

The words crashed into each other until entropy took its course and all sense of order and reason disappeared in an instant, the tears and the words just gushing from Alfred uncontrollably. Shit! Shit shit shit he had said it and now he had fucked up even worse and there was nothing he could do to fix it and Ivan would hate him and he'd be alone again and and and-!

"Alfred," Ivan breathed calmly and cooly, his voice like a splash of chilled water onto a blazing fire, and Alfred sizzled into smoke and watered embers as he hushed up quickly, shutting his mouth and snivelling as he forced his lips to remain shut. "I won't leave you… if you promise not to leave me."

"R-r-really? Y-you're not just saying that?" Alfred accused with a harsh, biting voice that he didn't mean in the least, his throat clogged up and his heart heavy and anxious. Ivan hummed quietly before seeming to remember that Alfred couldn't see him nodding. Ivan always did struggle with finding words.

"Yes. Maybe it won't work out but, also… maybe it will? I won't ask for your blood, I don't think either of us are ready. But… w-we won't know until we try, right?"

"Right," Alfred agreed with a breathless little sigh, Ivan's cooling force of nature relaxing him and reigning in his control, helping him handle all of the pent up emotions and frustrations. "Maybe we can try…"

"Yes," Ivan's little noise felt like it wrapped Alfred up into a hug, as if his friend was right there, holding him and cherishing him and hushing away all of his worries. The fire in Alfred's heart started to burn brighter again, but this time it was controlled and warm. Ivan sure knew how to kindle his flame…

"Thank you," the words just felt so right and comfortable and he sagged into his bed, glancing at the clock on the wall as Ivan let the silence stretch on. Surprising himself with an emotionally exhausted yawn, Alfred giggled somewhat nervously. "I-it's pretty late, I should go to sleep…"

"May I stay on the line with you?" Ivan asked quickly, startling Alfred again. He found himself letting a big smile stretch across his face before he giggled again.

"Yeah… I like your company. I think I'll have good dreams if I know you're here with me…. Good night, Ivan."

"Sweet dreams, Alfred."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for such a long wait! As always a review of 1(bad)-5(great!) is always appreciated, but if you're feeling up to it I'd also love to have extra feedback! Comments on anything (characterization, world building, questions, plot etc) are very important to me!


	17. What If

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry for such a long hiatus everyone, but I promise this story is not discontinued or anything! a lot of bad things have been going wrong in my life and it's been a struggle staying motivated for this. I hope you like this update-!
> 
> WARNING: This chapter deals with bullying and sexual harassment. Please read at your own discretion.

Awakening from a dazed state of lucid dreaming into the embrace of warmed blankets and filtered sunlight, Alfred rolled onto his back and felt the covers snag beneath his sleep-heavy weight, his phone slipping from his cheek as he slowly regained consciousness. Everything felt cozy and fuzzy, and he couldn't help the loopy smile on his face as his eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Ivan?" he hummed softly, reaching out with his arms to hug the body he had slept with, pawing at his sheets for a long moment before realizing his bed was empty, save for him. He sat up in confusion, rubbing at his eyes as he tried to orient himself. Where was…? He looked at his almost dead phone then, blushing when he checked his call history.

Ivan had stayed on the line with him until well after three in the morning. Cheeks flushing hot, the idea that Ivan had listened to him for roughly five hours was incredibly embarrassing but also somehow… endearing? Shaking his head, he tried to think logically. Ivan probably had just fallen asleep without ending the call and it had just dropped eventually, yeah, that had to be it!

Regardless, it was time to get ready for school anyway, and the warmth filling his chest reassured Alfred the day to come would be as wonderful as the night he had just slept through.

 

[-]

 

Not even Ivan's warmth could stay with him that day. Unsettling rustling followed Alfred's feet as he walked the halls, whispers nipping at his ankles with every echoing step on the linoleum floor. The very center of his core seemed rigid in its quivering, a hollow and empty tension chilling through him. Something felt… off. Wrong. Uncanny, almost.

It started in his legs: a trembling sensation that boiled up to his knees until they wobbled and threatened to give way, the young demon compensating for their spazztic jerking with determined, if not disturbed concentration, eyes staring intently at the ground as he watched one foot stomp in front of the other.  _Just walk, walk, walk, just keep walking, don't even look…_

Snickers prickled his skin with goosebumps, an indeterminate white noise like static in his ears. No, not static. Barking. Harsh, jabbing barks from a pack of wolves that had him surrounded, pinned in a corner with no exit in sight. Watching, waiting, smacking their chops hungrily as they waited for the signal to advance upon their prey and devour him.

A group of girls not much further down the hall giggled like a bunch of banshees, eyeing him and snickering excitedly amongst themselves. A shudder wracked up Alfred's spine and jerked to one side, the sensation tugging Alfred's head along to join in the sharp twitch.  _Just don't look at them_ , he chanted to himself in his buzzing headspace, blood gushing through him faster and faster, heating his cheeks and boiling in his veins. A pressure squeezed tighter and tighter around his lungs, suffocating him and leaving his vision spotty with threats of nausea. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

 _Thump, thump, thump_.

Whether the dull rhythmic droning came from his heart or his feet Alfred wasn't quite sure. Something within him told him to drown out every sound and just breeze through the halls and move on with his life, but another obsessive part of him wanted to linger and hear every scandalous word and whisper as he went along. What were they saying about him? Did they know about Ivan? Were they making fun of him and his family again?

 _Just ignore it!_  Alfred snapped angrily at himself, hefting his bag up back onto his shoulder again when it had started to sag as he stomped off towards his locker, a muscle in his face straining and tugging his one side of his mouth down into an anxious scowl. Nostrils flaring from agitation, he caught whiff of an odd smell, like that of rubbery plastic and sweat.

When the section of metal lockers where his resided came into sight, his erratic heart kicked into hyperdrive now that he had something concrete to focus on. What the hell was wrong with him? It was just another stupid school day, full of the usual people doing their usual things, there wasn't any logical reason to have such a strong reaction!

…. Right?

Momentarily distracted by his derailed train of thought, Alfred gasped in surprise when someone ran into his side, shoving him purposefully with the bulk of his larger frame.

"Hey-!" the young demon started to protest with an angry shout, looking up into the eyes of the much taller upperclassman, the tall satyr's leering smirk shocking Alfred into silence. An obscenely offensive image flashed through his mind too fast for him to process, and he struggled to blink himself back out of his headspace and into reality when the other teen laughed at him. The satyr capered forward a step and broke eye contact with him, bleating out a laugh to his friends as the gaggle of teens continued down away from him.

"Someone left a present for you," one of them jeered at Alfred with a nasally, coarse cackle; the cacophony of noise in Alfred's ears crescendoing to a peak. Everything suddenly tilted into vertigo, his lungs felt they had collapsed and his heart had skid into arrest. The noise dulled into a synchronous piercing ring, the faces around him melting into murderous, sadistic smiles of pure, lucid evil. Despite all this, every part of him shivered from an unexpected cold that settled into the very fibers of his nerves, the sudden freeze burning him all the while like violent frostbite. Something felt like it gripped the back of his spine and pushed him forward like a puppet on a useless string, eyes dilated and unseeing as he slowly approached his locker.

That odd rubbery smell came back, and this time was here to stay. Eyes bore bullet holes into his back as the lingering teenagers watched and waited for him to move, waited for the punchline of the best joke of the year. The metal door which held a few of his unimportant notebooks and supplies blocked him from seeing anyone else, but he could feel their overwhelming presences poking and prodding at him, egging him on for their own amusement as he lifted his hands to the lock.

Trembling fingers turned the dial, the metal rattling noisily in his ears as he worked it open.  _Click! Creee…._  his locker squeaked open as the door swung loose, an unassuming little box wrapped in brown paper sitting innocently enough on one of his notebooks. A partially worn page of binder paper lay folded unevenly on top of it. The ringing noise softened in the background of his mind, his heart calming at the relatively tame discovery. Lifting the note, Alfred unfolded it with a deep breath, even trying to work up a smile. Maybe it was Ivan? Maybe Ivan had gotten something for him? Still, no one should know the combination to his school locker, he barely used the thing and definitely didn't go around blabbing the code…

Pulling himself back to the present, he glanced down at the note before freezing up again, ears pricked and poised to listen to the people around him all the while flushing a hotly embarrassed red.  _Thought you could use some company, so come join us sometime,_ was all it read, messily scrawled across the page in partially smudged pencil. The paper rustled when Alfred jerked, his fingers digging into the flimsy sheet and forcing it to wrinkle and crumple under the pressure of his shaking hands. Quivering and twitching, Alfred couldn't keep his eyes focused on anything as the ringing returned, the whispers and chuckles grating in his ears as he picked up the box. The wrap job lacked any form of skill, the brown paper messily taped down and poorly folded into protruding corners and bent edges. Working his nails under the tape, a sharp pain in his lower back told him to just stop and forget about the 'present', to go find Ivan and sit somewhere quiet with him until his pulse calmed and his trembles worked their way out of his overstimulated system.

But the sharp pain in his heart told him to uncover just what had been left for him to find, and he couldn't seem to just let it go, he had to know and had to see and had to hold the thing in his hands and-

The brown paper burned in his hands as he pulled it away, struggling for breath when his gut raised itself up into his ribcage, lungs squeezing tight with the building pressure. "Wha-" he started to say to himself, lips hanging open as he stared at the uncovered box, the words written on it taking far too long to process as people started to crack up around him. The laughter broke through in patches and streaks, the teens hiding their splitting mouths behind hands that also pointed to Alfred's gift, the box dropping to the ground with a heavy thump.

"A-ah!" Alfred shrieked in shock, eyes wide and brimming with water as he stared at the opened box of condoms, some of the packets spilling out onto the floor. Kicking and yelling when one landed on his foot, Alfred gasped as the whole hallway erupted once more, a volcanic dissonance of hysteria swirling around him and knocking him against the wall of lockers. The tears slipped free and were swept off his face by the current, and Alfred didn't even fight it, didn't even slam his locker closed and instead raced down the hallway as fast as he could, shoving through the crowd as they grabbed at him with their jabbing manic delirium.

 

[-]

 

"Kh, hh-" Alfred choked and trembled uncontrollably as he tugged at his own hair, seated firmly on the tiled floor of the handicap stall in the boy's bathroom. He didn't even bother to sit his backpack up straight or hang it on the hook, didn't even bother to wonder just how clean the bathroom floor was. Sneakers squeaking against the tiles as he drew his legs closer to his chest, Alfred couldn't do much more than sob into his knees, quivering and struggling for air. Constricted lungs squeezing out breathy gasp after breathy gasp, he felt as if the whole world had come to bombard him in a single moment, the weight of such an immense atmospheric pressure crushing him and flattening him out of existence. Well, that's what he wished for at this point, anyway.

Instead of squishing him, it dragged him out from hiding and thrust him upon a podium surrounded by blinding spotlights, exposing him for all to see and judge. Sure, it wasn't uncommon for Alfred to find a note or two lying around insulting him, or to hear whispers next to his ears, but this was… this was something else.

"Why did it have to be condoms…?" he whimpered softly to himself, taking minimal comfort in hearing his broken and cracking voice echo against the walls. The memory already had burned itself into his mind's eye, the suggestively lewd offering seared permanently in his head. Just thinking about it made his blood boil! Someone had gone out to buy a box of condoms, open it, probably even use some of them, and then thought it would be a great idea to wrap the box up and write a note to go with it, break into his locker, and then leave it there for him! Someone had actually done all of that, just because they could-!

And then with a drowning rush that plunged him into deep water, Alfred felt his lungs clog with yet another overwhelming emotion. What… what if it wasn't just one person? What if it was a whole group of people, each goading the others on, ganged up together against him… A whole group of nameless, faceless people who's sole form of entertainment was to pick and chip away at Alfred until nothing was left of him. He could handle the whispers and the jabs, but… what if they got worse? What if, one day… someone actually did something  _to_ him? Not like this where he was left to find it on his own but something much, much worse?

What if Alfred was powerless to stop them?

His whole body seemed to shiver into stiffness, fragile and brittle, waiting for another blow to come and shatter him to pieces as he faced this new realization. People could hurt him, and Alfred slowly realized he had to accept that there was just nothing he could do to stop them from hurting him…

A brief image of Ivan popped into mind, thankfully casting the simmering condom image out of focus for a second. What if people hurt Ivan because of him? What if Alfred couldn't protect Ivan either? Tears continued to plip onto the fabric of his jeans where they dripped off of his face in streaming rivulets, soaking into them in dotted splotches. "F-fuck," Alfred whimpered softly and curled up a little tighter, shaken hands gripping his hair tightly over his ears, yanking on it and just barely enjoying the minimal pain coupled with the empty sensation. But even as he cursed his tears, they didn't stop falling. They just tracked their way down their given courses over his cheeks, joining other streams leaking from his runny nose as time seemed to stop and jolt forward all at once.

The bells rang to signal the start of class, and then the transition period between classes, and yet another… Alfred couldn't even keep track of the ticking minutes any more, blowing his nose into toilet paper and flushing his sadness away when he couldn't bear to look at the solemn evidence of his pain. He made sure to freeze and wait if anyone else came into the room, making himself small and just waiting out the awkward atmosphere until they left him to crack again. Eventually he picked himself up off of the floor, scrubbing uselessly at his nose with the edge of his hoodie sleeve, flushing away his used tissues one last time before collecting his things, ready to check the damage his lengthy cry session had done to the capillaries in his face.

Just as he shouldered the stall open, the door to the bathroom also opened, Ivan blinking in surprise at what he found. The vampire jerked to a halt as he more or less stumbled inside, and it took Alfred an ashamed moment to recognize that Ivan obviously was giving his face the good old once-over.  _Not so pretty now, am I?_  Alfred muttered bitterly to himself in his headspace, staring hard at the floor before just moving to the sink to wash his hands, Ivan gasping and straightening up, letting the door fall shut behind him.

"Alfred?" he broke the silence hesitantly, that sweet voice anxious and full of confusion as he stood at Alfred's side, laying a warm and comforting hand on his shoulder as he leaned into Alfred's field of vision. The young demon couldn't bear to look at him, his chest constricting again as he deftly turned his head away. He heard Ivan swallow, the grip on his shoulder tightening as Ivan gripped him tightly. "Alfred? What's happened to you-?"

His whole frame trembled violently, the young succubus just shaking and quivering as he tried to maintain his hold on what little composure he had gather. His mouth fell open, but when all that came out was the start of yet another sob, Alfred shut it quickly and swallowed the gaspy breath. Trying this a number of times, he just couldn't get any words out, all of them wheezy and too strained to make a coherent noise. Ivan's concern never wavered, instead deepening into the shadows of his face and the worry wrinkles of his forehead.

"Alfred, what happened?" he hissed through clenched teeth, that tight grip starting to hurt just a bit. Alfred turned to him, lower lip tucked into his mouth and eyes watery and scared, the pupils wide and whites bloodshot. Ivan's expression hardened again as he looked at his friend, Alfred's chin visibly shaking and his teeth clacking in his mouth as he tried to hold the sobs back again. Unable to speak or move or laugh it off or anything, Alfred just bent his head and let a few sobs out, leaning forward until his head collided with Ivan's sturdy chest. Ivan's heart was a little bit more soothing compared to his own, the tempo elevated but calm all at the same time, as if Ivan knew it best to refrain from letting his own emotions interfere with his need to make sure Alfred was alright.

"I… I don't want to talk about it," Alfred eventually managed, arms dangling like heavy weights at his sides as he sagged into his only friend, Ivan's arms slowly wrapping around his back, pressing him closer into his chest.  _Ah, if I suffocated like this, I'd be happy… At least Ivan's smell would be the last thing I get to know._

"I have you," Ivan murmured into his ear possessively, protectively, his nails digging comfortably into his back through Alfred's layers. The words melodiously washed through Alfred's entire body, flushing out the lingering tears and the persisting trembles, a state of calm settling upon the demon. That warm embrace, that warm voice, that warm sensation returned, and Alfred gladly let the heat melt him into relaxed putty, knowing Ivan would clutch him close and make sure he maintained his shape.

"Thank you…"

"How can I help?" Ivan pushed onwards, loosening his grip to see if Alfred wanted to move away. The demon lingering against his chest before looking up at him, smudging away his dribbly snot with his sleeve again. He tried to come up with an answer before just slowly shaking his head 'no' and shrugging, his vocabulary thoroughly depleted just from the few words he managed to say. Ivan's frown softened somewhat, trying to encourage more communication. "Would you like a kiss?"

The offer stung in Alfred's mouth and he quickly shook his head 'no' again, just the thought of that sort of thing utterly repulsive to him. Ivan didn't waver, didn't even seem all that upset that his offer had been refused. Instead he took a small step back, Alfred perking up to see him rustling through his backpack for a moment.

"What's that?" he sniffled when Ivan pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper, the demon quickly looking away when that troublesome event started to bubble back up in his mind. Ivan smiled softly and smoothed it out for a moment before passing it to Alfred.

"The permission slip for the dance. I was going to go turn it in… Want to come with me? Maybe we can go look at costumes after?" he suggested, doing his best to help Alfred. Those wondrous blue eyes widened just a bit more, the signed page trembling in Alfred's hands as his diaphragm spasmed again. Alfred swallowed thickly, eyes darting back and forth between Ivan's own eyes, taking in Ivan's hopeful expression, realizing the vampire had asked for Alfred's approval when the words didn't quite make sense.

"Y-you still want to go with me?" he sniffled, sucking in a breath and needing a few tries to get a satisfying volume of air. Ivan nodded slightly, his cool and bony hands folding comfortably over Alfred's as they shared a quiet moment away from all the outside stress, away from everything that had ever hurt them both. Ivan's warm smile was contagious, and even after everything that happened, just knowing Ivan still liked him was enough for Alfred. His lips trembled and slowly stretched to mirror Ivan's expression, the tears coming back. Alfred didn't bother caring about them, content to forget about them if it meant he could share in Ivan's smile. "O-okay. Let's go now?"

Ivan's smile opened up to show his teeth and those sweet fangs, his eyes soft and encouraging. "Yes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was worth the wait, and I'm so sorry if my writing has gotten a little rusty with the break ;u; feedback is much appreciated!


	18. Steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Walks into this fanfic seven months late with a starbucks*
> 
> Oh shit whaddup

"Come in!" a cheery, boisterous voice crooned from inside the depths of the principal's office, Ivan glancing at Alfred for support before turning the knob and hesitantly shouldering his way inside. A whip-like white tail with a fluffy and bulbous fur ending tapped against the ground just before the principal swiveled around in his chair, bright and joyful blue eyes blinking at the two students making their way in. The principal instantly was on his feet, full of welcoming smiles and excitement as he hurried over to greet them. "My! What an absolutely splendid surprise to see you two in here! You came together? Goodness, you didn't get sent to me by a teacher, did you?"

"No, sir," Alfred quickly clarified, a little embarrassed to find the principal nodding along and bobbing his head in time with the vigorous handshake he caught Alfred up in. Ivan shifted anxiously but accepted his own handshake in turn, feeling rather awkward that he stood taller than the leader of their educational establishment.

"Wonderful! Would you care for a cookie? I made a few too many last night with Peter," the bubbly little man waved them towards his desk as he himself trotted back to his seat, the overgrown white fur on his arms peeking out from his shirt cuffs and resting atop his bumpy and partially deformed hands. Ivan fingered the loop in his scarf, wondering if the bright man could see whatever lingering bruises were still hidden underneath.

"That's alright, we only came to drop off some paperwork," Alfred spoke for the both of them, hoping his eyes had cleared up the bloodshot look from earlier. Principal Tino blinked and then waved them forward with a coaxing flick of his wrist, Ivan stumbling the half step remaining between them.

"What for?" Tino asked them curiously, the paper crinkling as it passed from Ivan's delicate hand into Tino's knobby clutches. The Finnish troll twisted the paper around and let his head loom forward to read the first couple of lines, Ivan fidgeting and soon just bowing his head, taking up the end of his scarf to work between his fingers. Alfred winced in surprise when the troll let out a shrill and cheery little yelp of surprise, jumping down from his chair all over again. "A permission slip! For the dance!"

"A-ahh, yes," Ivan's pale face flushed with the admission, Alfred nudging his way forward as well to stand beside him. Their principal looked up at one and then to the other in rapid succession, his beady and quick little eyes obviously realizing what was going on between them. He nodded and then went back to skimming the form, pausing after another moment.

"There's just one thing, Ivan," Tino stopped their collective sigh of relief before it could escape into the air, shutting it right back into their chests and squeezing it tightly with anticipation. Tino slapped the piece of paper onto his desk, his slouched and heavyset body stretching across the tabletop to the pen tin. Ivan could hear his weak heart throbbing dully with dread, the pen Tino selected sliding straight over the line marked ' _Request Denied'._

"Principal Vainamainen, please, I-" Ivan protested, eyes widening in horror as the little man barely two-thirds his height stared up at him expectantly. The pen moved, Ivan gasping as it came to a halt just in front of him.

Tino smiled. "You forgot to sign as well, dear boy," the principal noted with a relaxed and confident smile, Ivan's trembling hand accepting the pen before scribbling out a messy cursive signature on the designated line. Tino accepted the pen back heartily, neatly scrawling his own signature out. "All set! You boys enjoy yourselves, alright? I'm so happy to see you participating in school activities, and I would love to hear your informed feedback about our festivities when this is all over!"

[-]

"Haha, he really had us there for a minute, didn't he?" Alfred laughed to break the silence, a bony elbow prodding Ivan's equally bony chest in an affectionate side-jab. Ivan grimaced but smiled all the same, the afternoon sun starting to fade into a darkening evening as they continued down the avenue at a comfortably silent stroll. The zipper pulls on Alfred's backpack jingled as they clinked together with each step, the blond letting the heavy bag of books slouch off of his shoulder. Ivan couldn't help but let his gaze slide over to him every so often, taking in the soft yet sharp structure of his jawline and the high and engaging arch of his brows…

"You are alright, now?" he asked softly, Alfred smirking off to one side as he closed his eyes with a sigh. Ivan had difficulty reading his expression behind the thick frames of his glasses, but Alfred eventually tossed his head back with a hearty, grinning laugh.

"Yeah! I think I just overreacted, it really wasn't that big of a deal," Alfred shook his head and smiled at him, adding a little bounce in his step and hurrying ahead of Ivan. The young demon took a hop-step and crunched a landing atop a fallen leaf, Ivan's lips trembling up into a smile around the edges. "I can't let assholes like them get to me, after all, yeah? I'd be such a loser if I did!"

"Well, if it ever happens again," Ivan chuckled and let Alfred run and hop ahead of him on the sidewalk, the two grinning and barely able to contain their sudden mirth at their coming opportunities. A dance, for just the two of them…! Maybe for once they could even feel like real teenagers, and not lonely freaks of nature with no friends. Ivan's cheeks almost hurt from smiling so much, just being around Alfred's infectious energy always making his unreliable heart swell with a gushing, rushing emotion that left his knees as weak as if he had run a thousand or so miles. "I'll kill them!"

Alfred jolted to a halt and then whirled around, his backpack thumping heavily against his back as he stared up at his normally quiet and timid friend, taken aback by his startling words. The vampire's head tilted to one side in happy confusion, the gappy spaces in his smile filled with just the tips of his fangs pointing out of their slits. Blue eyes blinking, Alfred straightened and stared him down, searching Ivan for the hint of some kind of joking. "What- really?"

"Yes," Ivan nodded, swiftly bowing his head down in a jerky motion before hesitating on the rise, starting to wonder if his words had put Alfred off. The demon remained still for just a few moments before slowly approaching his friend. The intensity of his gaze jolted Ivan's heart into overdrive, Alfred's blond hair glinting a soft and lovely color in the fading sunlight. "I would kill anyone who hurt you, Golden One."

"You would, or you will?" Alfred hissed between clenched teeth, his sneaker skidding against the concrete sidewalk as he squared off to Ivan, shoulders relaxed and pulled back with an air of confident testing, his feet apart and hands clenched into tight fists. Ivan narrowed his gaze and mirrored Alfred's stance, the sparks zipping between them tense and electrifying to the highest degree.

"I would. But only because," Ivan murmured and was the first to lower his gaze, catching up Alfred's wrist and raising his hand, weaving their fingers together before clasping Alfred's hand tight. The blond flicked his attention from their hands to his friend's face, Ivan's unwavering stare encouraging Alfred to swoon a half-step closer, their chests bumping together as an unspeakable force pulled them together. "I won't _let_ anyone hurt you to begin with."

"You mean it?" Alfred murmured, his blue eyes peering up at him from dark and murky depths, eyelids hooded and lips quirked upwards at the edges. Ivan gripped his hand tighter and even dared to wrap his free hand around Alfred's waist, clutching him close.

" _Da,"_ he answered in a heavy, heart-felt voice, Alfred maintaining that intimate stare before snorting. Ivan winced and let go as laughter bubbled up Alfred's throat, the blond demon's cheeks puffed out as he struggled to hold in the giddy chuckles.

"Oh my _god,_ you are such a dork!" he laughed and punched Ivan's arm affectionately, sticking his tongue out before screwing up his face and laughing more, even starting to tear up a little. Ivan winced at the insult and huffed, grabbing the end of his scarf and worrying at it as Alfred walked on, still laughing. "C'mon, Ivy, you can't be serious talking like that! What would you even do with the bodies, huh?"

"I-I would think of something!" Ivan yelped and trot after him to catch up, still insulted that Alfred had laughed at such a crucial moment for him. Still, seeing the blond make such a 180 turnaround from earlier, now a vibrant and mirthful ball of energy, let Ivan relax at least for a little bit. Alfred grinned at him, having resumed his leaf-stomping for a moment before he rushed Ivan suddenly, grabbing him in a fierce bear hug and burying his face in his chest. Knees buckling and face heating up, Ivan melted in the warm embrace and smiled enthusiastically, Alfred pulling away before darting down the street.

"Well, let's ditch the bodies and run! Last one to the store is a rotten harpy egg!"

Ivan grinned and lurched forward after him, Alfred yelping gleefully when he dodging Ivan's swiping hand, the two sprinting off towards the setting sun. "You won't get away from me-!"

[-]

"Oh, you aren't closing right now, are you?" Alfred wheezed to the bored counter clerk, one of the chimera's heads staring intently at the screen of their phone while another snake-like other head bobbed in the air, a flicking tongue slipping in and out of its partially opened mouth. The human-ish, sort of lion-ish head glanced up apathetically, giving the two hesitant teens a once-over while they tried to make sense of the monster in front of them.

"Nope. Go right in, but we'ah only open for about forty-five more minutes. Changing rooms in the back, but leave ya' bags by me, 'k?" the creature waved them on with a curved hoof, Alfred and Ivan not needing another encouraging gesture to sling their bags onto the glass counter case with various rings, necklaces, and contact lenses before hurrying deeper into the pits of glitzy cheap fabric. They shared a glance and then slowed to a halt, staring overhead at the signs until they located their general size range in the sprawling expanse of accommodating outfits. Bypassing the extended costumes for peoples of larger bottoms or thicker tails and skipping over the small people's section where a short fairy held up a tutu to display for her awkwardly stooping yeti friend, Ivan and Alfred slipped into the human-esque department and instantly froze up.

"Uh… Where do we even start?" Alfred laughed hesitantly, nervously skimming over the lines and lines of costume racks. Ivan shrugged and grimaced somewhat, trying to find something even remotely appealing to settle his gaze upon.

"I've never really ever needed a costume, and father only got me some when I was small," Ivan offered up a weak and nervous shrug, Alfred chuckling at the mental image of a baby Ivan carried by huff-and-puff Mr. Winter in an overly adorable onesie. They brushed shoulders before flinching away from each other, Alfred letting out a nervous guffaw as he tried to play cool, Ivan simply pinching his scarf up over his nose to meekly let himself be repelled from the demon's personal space. Glancing at each other awkwardly, the two teens set to work on perusing the aisle, picking through outfit after tireless outfit, pulling out a few to share mostly as jokes.

"How 'bout a sexy nurse, Dr. B?" Alfred grinned obnoxiously as he pulled out an overly-sexual pair of scrubs, the green uniform having large breast pads and the sides of the shirt missing. Ivan snorted at the sight of Alfred's kissy face as his friend modeled the outfit while still keeping it on the hanger, posing 'seductively' for him.

"Only if a- ah, ah-" Ivan panicked and skipped through a huge chunk of costumes, settling quickly on a disturbingly overstated wife-beater tank top complete with an enormously pregnant beer belly. "Only if Mr. Nurse will see to me personally!"

"Ewwww, no way, no way!" Alfred tossed his head back and shoved the outfit back onto the hanger, opening up his hands to affectionately punch Ivan aside. The vampire's breathy giggles of excitement left the corners of his trembling lips curled up, his eyes big and fleety. His friend grinned at him, and then slowly let his gaze drop from Ivan's face to his torso, settling around where his baggy clothes hung limply at his sides. Ivan followed his gaze after a moment, sheepishly crossing an arm over his belly as he hung up the unflattering costume. "Say…"

"Yes, Alfred?" Ivan egged the incoming question on, Alfred swaying closer to touch his hand to Ivan's arm. The succubus remained quiet for a minute, looking as if he were debating the pros and cons of swallowing the question or spewing it out awkwardly. The vampire turned, the fabric of his scarf swishing from where it draped over his shoulder. "We should keep looking, or we will not find anything worthwhile."

"Oh! Y-yeah, right… Hey, does that thing over there look like an astronaut helmet to you?" Alfred asked and pointed off towards the end of the line, Ivan perking at his words. The two were back to smiling again, Alfred leading the charge down between the racks with Ivan hot on his heels. The glittery space suits came in just a small collection of sizes, not that Alfred and Ivan paid much attention to them as they each grabbed up a set. "Sweet! These are like, perfect!"

"Except for maybe the sequins," Ivan commented with a coy little look, Alfred tucking his bottom lip under his teeth to bite down a laugh. Giddy and eager, the boys gathered their things and scuttled to the changing rooms, Alfred ducking into one and leaving Ivan to linger in front of another-

"Hey," Alfred called out to him with a frown and a dusty pink blush, poking his head out from between the hanging curtains. Ivan turned somewhat, already partially inside a changing room of his own. The succubus hesitated, and then blinked owlishly at him. "Er, say… Aren't you going to join me? I'll need help with the zipper…"

"Oh, yes!" Ivan quickly darted over and flung the curtains aside, turning and swiping them shut again, the two teens a bit crowded in the tight changing room. Alfred's breathing quickened just a little as Ivan couldn't help but brush against him, the vampire looking equally flushed as they came face to face again. Alfred honed in on Ivan, blue eyes wide and searching, his pink tongue visible for just a second as the demon wet his lip. "The zipper…"

"Yeah, z-zipper…" Alfred repeated the word again, staring Ivan down as his clumsy fingers fiddled with his pant button and then pinched the pull, Ivan's eyes fixated on the agonizing descent downwards. Had he ever seen what was underneath Alfred's clothes, anyway? Ivan surprised himself with how steadily his chest swelled and emptied with breath, or maybe he had just stopped breathing all together.

"I thought you said… You wanted help with it?" the vampire managed to get the question out with only a small gasp of hesitation, his words exhaled with breezy ease that left Alfred just as startled as his friend. The succubus froze up for a moment and then slowly let his arms fall away to his sides, standing tall and proud with his pants mostly undone.

"Uh… y-yeah, guess I did," he nodded and swayed his hips forward, jutting them out just a little bit towards Ivan. Something clenched tightly around Ivan's heart and gripped him with compulsion, the vampire crouching down almost to his knees in front of his companion. Alfred's hand slapped softly over his mouth at the lewd vision of Ivan bent over in front of him, the young demon too excited to watch any further as Ivan raised his hands to Alfred's waistband and wove his fingers through the belt loops on either side of his pelvis. The vampire gripped the cloth tightly and tugged it down from its resting place, hungry eyes eagerly feasting themselves upon the caramel skin as it came into view.

Bypassing Alfred's white boxers with a cowboy print on them for now, Ivan focused on observing the rest of his friend. To start, Alfred's thighs packed a good amount of weight on them, but a second glance indicated that he had room to add more where his clothes were limp and baggy around him. Knobby knees showed up next, with only a single bruised blotch on one side to mar the pretty color. Alfred's jeans pooled at his feet then, and Ivan retrieved his hands with a twinge of reluctance, only glancing up when Alfred stepped out of the crumpled mess. A small gap between Alfred's sweatshirt, shirt, and belly appeared only for Ivan for only a moment as the blond leaned forward, the glimpse nothing but a fleeting tease when Alfred straightened again.

"Sorry," Ivan blurted out suddenly and lurched to his feet, narrowly avoided a collision with Alfred's chin on his way up. The blond snorted and gave his arm a gentle shove, his blue eyes hooded somewhat when he couldn't keep his gaze on a single point.

"Don't worry 'bout it," he replied casually enough, but turned around to strip the clothing off his torso, Ivan quickly mirroring the turn to face the wall. The vampire shut his eyes and listened hard through the heartbeat pulsing through his ears for the sound of Alfred's clothing rippling up his back and then through the air, falling to the floor with a gentle thump. Alfred removed his costume from the hanger and fluffed it out in the air, stepping into it with some difficulty.

"Ready for the zipper?" Ivan asked after a hesitant moment of suffering in his own stifled arousal, the hot air in the cramped space making him dizzy and sweaty all over. Alfred made an affirmative noise, the two of them turning around to face each other at roughly the same time.

"Heh, I guess I didn't need help with it after all," Alfred shrugged as casually as he could, the front zipper pulled open all down his front to the point Ivan could make out the waistband of those boxers. The vampire's eyes roamed longingly up Alfred's front, Ivan awed and a bit startled by his scrawny friend. Alfred's belly sloped almost inward right from where his ribs ended, the demon's hip bones wide-set and protruding in a femininely handsome way, despite how skinny he obviously was.

"That's… alright. I can help anyway," Ivan choked on the words and caught Alfred's wrist before the demon could zip himself into the suit, Ivan tugging his hand aside and taking a small step closer. Alfred winced a little but didn't pull away, wide eyes staring pointedly at their hands before slowly meandering up to Ivan's face.

The thoughts they shared in that moment held them frozen to the end, Ivan blinking only once as Alfred gazed intimately up at him, keeping him trapped with minimal effort. After all, Ivan wouldn't want to look away; not from the sight before him, and certainly not from Alfred. The vampire eventually lowered his gaze to the zipper pull resting just above a noticeable bulge tenting the cloth. Alfred didn't wave despite his shame, only blushing a little bit as he watched Ivan's expression shift ever so slightly.

The zipper snagged halfway up his chest, but Ivan dislodged it with a gentle secondary tug. "There," he managed to breathe despite all odds, stepping back as Alfred could marvel at himself in the mirror. The blond twisted and turned to check all of his angles, lifting his arms and bending his knees to see how well it stretched.

"Yeah, this'll be good," he nodded, and then reached around Ivan for the large circular helmet to accompany the costume, sliding it down on his head and fastening the strap. Ivan smiled approvingly, nodding along as Alfred modeled for him.

"It's perfect!" he praised, Alfred's grin just barely visible through the black tinted glass. The demon lifted the helmet off again and set it aside, Ivan unashamedly watching his friend strip down again, hungry violet eyes lingering on his exposed crotch when Alfred finally stood almost entirely nude in front of him. "You next!"

"Eh, what?" Ivan blinked, and yelped when Alfred grabbed his sweater and yanked it up to expose his belly, those active hands dive-bombing Ivan's tightly cinched belt next. "Wait-!"

"It's your turn! Accept your fate!" Alfred laughed theatrically, still mostly nude as he wrestled with Ivan's clothes, grabbing his pants and yanking them down in a quick and effective motion, Ivan yelping in surprise at being caught off guard like that. The vampire thrust his arms forward and gripped Alfred's shoulders, stumbling back when Alfred lost balance and tumbled forward onto his knees, Ivan's clothes still gripped tightly in his hands.

"W-wait-!" Ivan yelped again before gasping, throwing up a hand to hide his face in shame. Alfred froze up, one of Ivan's hands still tightly gripping his shoulder as the blond stared right between Ivan's exposed legs. The fabric of his friend's black boxers pulled the same way his did at that moment, Ivan trembling next to him out of nervous embarrassment.

Gulping, Alfred slowly scooched back, giving Ivan some space as he rocked back onto his feet and stood up. "U-uh, sorry, I think… I got a little carried away," he apologized, fidgeting before snatching up his own clothes, throwing them on quickly and making a hasty escape, sliding the curtain closed behind him to give Ivan some privacy. "I'll just wait out here!"

"A-alright," Ivan stammered, staring down at himself before slowly reaching for the costume, the jarring interruption not even enough to leave a stint in his shameful growth. "I'll be just a moment!"

The two decided to stick with their plan and wrapped up their shopping trip, Ivan paying for the both of them before they exited the store together, neither saying much and both unable to look at the other again. They stood on the exit step for a long time, Ivan holding the bag with their costumes in one hand as he stared blankly at the street ahead of them. And then a gentle touch brushed against his hand, Alfred leaning his weight against his friend before winding their fingers together. Ivan stiffened and then glanced down to him as Alfred nuzzled against his shoulder.

"Thanks, Ivy… Uh, guess I'll see you later?" Alfred mumbled, and then raised his eyes to blink sweetly at his friend, Ivan holding still as the demon raised up on his toes and pecked a soft kiss to Ivan's cheek. The vampire blushed, Alfred slipping out of his grip to jump off the step with a little hop, grinning back at him.

"Y-yes, see you!" Ivan agreed, raising the hand warmed briefly by Alfred's touch to wave him off, his heart hammering loudly as he followed Alfred off the edge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's not wait that long again, yikes. hope it was worth it!


End file.
